Cold
by Callista Miralni
Summary: He hated the sound of her voice. It reminded him of every thing he wanted... and ironically, could never have. SasuSaku. Alyss in Wonderland inspired.
1. Down the Rabbit Hole

Cold

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer: I don't own _Naruto_ or _The Looking Glass Wars_.

* * *

He hated music for the longest time.

Her sweet mezzo-soprano voice haunted his conscious mind, overwhelming him and pushing him into a dreamlike state. The words of her last ballad echoed in the air, surrounding him with veiled hatred.

_Can I be your sanctuary?_

_Can I be your wings to fly?_

_'Cause I'm a desperate angel with a need to die._

_And will you be my sanctuary?_

_Hold me close and not let go._

_Even as my glass world shatters, my sanctuary remains forever._

"Sakura." He growled.

And the world fell apart.

* * *

He couldn't believe what he had found.

Or more accurately, _who_ he had found.

An orphan boy, huddling in the darkened corner on this rainy night. The dimming streetlight threw odd shadows on his youthful face, highlighting malnutrition's mark on his countenance. But what startled the man was not his obvious poverty, but his eyes.

Startling blue, almost as crystal-clear as the deepest sapphire.

He crouched before the boy, offering him a friendly smile. The boy looked up, but did not say anything. He noted, with a shiver, that his expression was dead, as if he were a plant who had not seen the sun for a while.

"Hello." The man said with a smile. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. What's yours?"

The boy regarded him carefully, evaluating his sincerity. Kakashi allowed him to study; after all, who would trust a stranger in a mask?

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." The boy replied hoarsely.

Kakashi offered his hand to pull the boy to his feet. "How old are you?"

"How old are _you_?" Naruto shot back as he clumsily stood.

Steadying the youth, Kakashi laughed. "Young enough. Want to come with me and eat ramen? I know a place, cheap food, good quality."

Open-mouthed, Naruto stared. Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Kakashi steered him ahead, leading him to the stall. "C'mon, after we eat, we can discuss other things as well."

"Like what?" Sapphire blue scrutinized him suspiciously.

"Alyss in Wonderland."

* * *

"Little boy, you should know better than to run and hide."

In his fear, he tripped over his own feet, catapulting himself into a crate. Suddenly, the crane powered on and he was hoisted high into the air but he knew better than to scream.

"Tell me where the rabbit hole is." The slithering voice echoed. "Tell me where your precious Alyss is."

The crane had stopped moving and he silently swung himself out of the crate and onto the beams above. Finding a broken skylight, he heaved his tired body out of the building and pulled out a cell phone. The screen pulsed with a faint blue light and a few moments later, a stealth aircraft dropped onto the roof noiselessly. The boy climbed into the sleek aircraft and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the familiar masked face.

"Kakashi."

The visible eye crinkled into what could have been called a smile. "Yo. You made it."

The boy frowned and dug out his bounty from his pack. "All that for a _shard_? Kakashi, what the hell? I had Tayuya on my tail."

"And a very important shard it is. You should be thankful you escaped relatively unharmed."

His scowl grew. "All the same Kakashi, _what's going on_?"

"Alyss in Wonderland."

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto couldn't take in everything at once. Everything seemed to be made out of light and air in this place, a kind of hidden asylum in the depths of the chaotic bloody world.

"Naruto- good to find you took me up on my offer."

The twelve-year-old frowned. "You got me curious. What's all this Wonderland crap about?"

Kakashi smiled again and beckoned him to the stairs. "All in good time. But here's the way to your room. We'll take care of you now."

"_We?_ How many of there are you?"

"Enough." Kakashi answered somberly. "Enough."

The glass and steel staircase took Naruto by surprise- he never expected such construction materials to be used in a high traffic area.

"This is what they call Heart Palace, the 'heart' of Wonderland." Kakashi began to narrate. "HQ in a sense. Not everyone stays here but everyone comes here often enough. Plenty of leg room for unexpected giant slumber parties."

Naruto listened half-heartedly. He continued to observe his surroundings, still awed by the lightness of the Palace.

"Your room _White Rabbit_. It's your space; feel free to do with it as you please." Opening the door, Kakashi ushered the boy into the blank canvas. Naruto could feel his inner artistic skills tingling, ecstatic at the opportunity to be used again.

"Kakashi… thanks. For everything." He said with all the sincerity he could muster.

Patting him gently on the head, Kakashi smiled yet again. "It's what we do. This is Wonderland."

* * *

Outside, the world was caught in another storm, turning daylight into night. Ignoring the flashes of thunder, Naruto opened the refrigerator door, humming as he sought the carton of milk. Popping the cap off, he poured the liquid generously over his bowl of cereal before replacing the lid and putting it back in the fridge.

"Naruto-" Kakashi called over his book. "I have to introduce you to someone."

"Who Kakashi?" Interest piqued, Naruto scanned the kitchen eagerly for the new face. "Someone like me?"

"Yes and no." The man hesitated. "He's a lot like you, but then again, he's not like you at all."

"Damn straight." A new voice growled as a gleaming blade appeared next to Naruto's carotid artery. "Because unlike you, _dobe_, I know how to kill without a sound."

Naruto dared a glance at the blade. The words "Mad Hatter" were engraved upon the blade in an ornate, flowing script.

"I know you." He said slowly. Thunder rolled in overhead. "You're the one they say to watch out for on the streets. The Mad Hatter."

"With good reason. You could have something I want, something I _need_ in order to complete my mission. It could be something so highly precious to you; you would never give it up to me. The next time anyone sees you, I would have pried my prize from your cold, dead fingers and you would be drowning in a sea of your own blood." The other boy said softly.

Kakashi laid a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "Now, now. Don't scare him- you'll need him later as your far guard and field partner."

The other boy snorted. "_He's_ my partner? He's got a lot to catch up on. Besides, you know I'm _never_ supposed to go out into the field. _You_ know my job Kakashi and field work isn't it."

"You do it anyways." Kakashi pointed out.

"Only because _she _asks me to. If I had it my way, I wouldn't leave at all."

The older man sighed and shook his head. "At least release Naruto from your hold Sasuke."

The boy- Sasuke- lowered his weapon and pocketed it. Turning around, Naruto faced the other boy for the first time. He gasped in surprise. Sasuke was no older than him- slightly older by a few months at most- but he possessed a maturity that made him seem older than his twelve years.

Everything about Sasuke opposed Naruto in some way or another. The boy had pale skin, dark raven hair, and cold onyx eyes. He dressed in darker colors, hues of blue or black. Each muscle in his body seemed relaxed but Naruto knew better. Years out on the streets told him that Sasuke was a tightly coiled spring under his lean muscles, ready to strike at any given moment.

"Uchiha Sasuke, better known as the Mad Hatter." The boy grudgingly offered his hand.

Naruto grasped it, a winning smile plastered on his face. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Kakashi breathed a subtle sigh of relief. Part one of her grand plan was over.

Now to the next phase.

* * *

It was endless, Naruto finally decided. The rigorous training program Kakashi wrote out for him pushed him to and beyond his human limits. But Naruto refused to give up; he wanted to be worthy of the _White Rabbit_ title.

Every morning one of the maids would come in and wake him up. Breakfast usually consisted of a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of milk. From there, Kakashi sent him off to the Palace's library for private lessons with Umino Iruka.

Iruka was the aide to the previous _White Rabbit_. He was both a warrior and a diplomat. Naruto's lessons with Iruka covered everything from the history of the world to political science. Iruka taught him more than book-smarts; he showed Naruto how to utilize his already learned street wisdom and combine it with political finesse. Naruto admired Iruka- a lot.

After lunch came the warrior lessons, as Naruto dubbed them. Kakashi physically trained him to be in top peak condition, molding him into a lethal weapon. Naruto looked forward to this part of the day. No matter how hard Kakashi pushed him, his mentor made the work enjoyable.

Sometime in the middle of the afternoon Sasuke would join them. While Naruto was running laps or doing core exercises on the edge of the cavernous training room, Sasuke and Kakashi were having their own private lesson in the center. On some of those days, Kakashi would be teaching some new technique to the older boy then leave him alone to practice it, giving their masked teacher time to read his strange orange book. Other days, particularly on the days Sasuke perfected the previous lesson, they would spar in the middle of the room. Naruto always paused his own training to watch them, before Kakashi would remind him mid-spar to get back to work.

After training, he went back to his room for a quick shower before returning downstairs to the dining room. Usually it was just him and Kakashi, but on some days Iruka joined them for dinner. Naruto never saw Sasuke any other time besides afternoon training.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto said through a mouthful of rice.

Iruka looked at him disapprovingly. The boy hastily swallowed before going ahead. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei, why doesn't Sasuke ever eat?"

Kakashi choked on his vegetables. "He eats Naruto. Just not with us."

"So where does he eat? There's only one dining room in this entire building." Naruto pressed.

"He takes his meals elsewhere, with the Princess in her private suite in the Palace." Iruka explained.

"What Princess? Can I meet her? Where's her room? In fact, where does Sasuke go every other time of the day?"

Kakashi rubbed his eyes. Naruto's barrage of questions was tiring. "In due time Naruto-kun. Eat your vegetables."

The boy picked up one slimy vegetable with his chopsticks and eyed it warily. Making a face, he opened his mouth to take a tentative bite.

"Hrmph!" Blue eyes wide, a chopstick full of greens shoved its way down his throat.

"Just thought I'd help." Kakashi said innocently.

"_KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

* * *

  
_

He saw the familiar head of raven hair walking down the same hallway his room was located at. Jogging quickly to catch up with the other boy, Naruto hollered:

"SASUKE!"

The other boy turned around quickly. Glancing at him impassively, he returned the greeting.

"Naruto."

Now in stride with him, Naruto pelted him with questions. "Where have you been all day? Where do you go? How come I only see you in the afternoons?"

Sasuke smirked. "Miss me much? Sorry dobe, I don't bend that way."

"Bastard!" Naruto swore, shaking his fist. "That's not what I meant!"

That stupid smirk wouldn't disappear. "Sasuke-teme…" Naruto egged on.

"I'm busy." The smirk finally vanished.

"With what?"

"Alyss needs the Mad Hatter by her side, you know." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you ever read _The Looking Glass Wars_?"

Naruto frowned; he hated being left in the dark. "No… why?"

They were walking down the staircase to the second floor. "You should. It would explain a lot more to you than anything else."

A faint sound- a set of wind chimes, Naruto finally decided- rang through the Palace. Sasuke stiffened, before turning around to head back the way they came.

"Where're you going?" Naruto called after him.

"The Princess calls. Go read your book Naruto."

Turning back around, Naruto realized Sasuke left him in front of the library's doors. He peeked inside, noticing no one was around except for a blond-haired girl sitting at the circulation desk reading a book. Naruto stepped in and began to aimlessly wander around the shelves, hoping to stumble across the book and not look like a total idiot while searching.

"If you're looking for _The Looking Glass Wars_, Sasuke-kun left your copy up here with me." The blonde girl called out to him after fifteen minutes of searching.

Sheepish, Naruto made his way to the circulation desk. The girl, the first female he's seen in the Palace besides the maids, had sky blue eyes and a lighter shade of blond than his own hair. She chewed a piece of gum thoughtlessly, popping bubbles every now and then.

"Er… thanks. He didn't mention it to me."

The girl shrugged. "That's Sasuke-kun for you. He probably also didn't mention that you don't get your own copy of _LGW_ until you've met the Princess. Why you'd get yours early… I have no clue."

"You know who I am?" Surprise laced his voice.

Another bubble popped. "Who doesn't?" She said dryly as she handed the book over.

The same chime that called Sasuke away rang again. "That's my call. Happy reading." The girl hopped off the chair behind the desk and walked out the door without another word.

Naruto looked down at the book in his hands and opened to the first page.

He had a lot to catch up on.

* * *

Today was different.

In the middle of lunch, Sasuke walked into the dining room. He went to Kakashi, handing him a folded note. Kakashi read it quickly before tossing it back to the Uchiha, the paper catching flame before it reached his hand. The note smoldered and blackened, its ashes dropping onto Sasuke's open palm.

"It's time." The other boy informed him.

Kakashi nodded. "Aa. I'll see you when she calls."

Sasuke left as quickly as he came. Curious, Naruto turned to his teacher, opening his mouth to ask-

"Hurry up and finish eating. When you're done, go take a shower and change into decent clothes. We won't be having afternoon training today."

Naruto wolfed down the rest of his meal and sprinted up to his room to do as Kakashi instructed. Half an hour later, Naruto came back down, only to find Kakashi gazing pensively out one of the many glass windows.

"Kakashi-sensei…"

The wind chimes again.

"That's our call."

He led Naruto down the familiar hallway. But instead of turning right to go down to the basement, Kakashi led him left, through a door Naruto was forbidden from entering. Even if he did try to sneak through, his attempts would have been futile.

-**NAME?**-

-_Hatake Kakashi-_

-**PASSWORD?**-

-_Fortuna est-_

-**WELCOME: JABBERWOCKY**-

The door hissed open.

"You're early."

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin. From the shadows of the dim hallway, Sasuke stepped out to join them.

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm on time."

They followed Sasuke down the labyrinth halls. Naruto tried to keep up with them while trying to observe his surroundings and memorize this part of the Palace's layout. Ahead, Sasuke opened the door at the end of the hallway and stepped inside. Kakashi followed behind him at a leisurely pace. By the time Naruto realized where they had gone, the two vanished through the dark door. Racing to catch up, Naruto ran in breathless before coming to a screeching halt.

Sasuke knelt low before the darkened throne, going down on bended knee. A little ways behind him, Kakashi imitated the boy, leaving Naruto standing bewildered by Kakashi's side.

"Princess." Sasuke intoned, bowing his head.

The lights flickered on but the girl's face remained hidden in the shadows.

"Uchiha-san."

In one fluid moment, Sasuke was off the floor and in front of the throne twenty feet away. Naruto gasped audibly- how did he _move_ so _fast_?

A pale hand stretched out and Sasuke grabbed it, bringing it close to his lips. Facinated, Naruto watched Sasuke transform into a different person right before his eyes.

"Sasuke, you work too hard." A soft voice like wind gently chastised. "Stand up- you're far too proud to be on your knees. Take your place beside me."

A hand jerked Naruto down to the floor during this exchange. The boy almost screamed in rage but a gloved hand silenced him quickly.

"Show some respect." Kakashi hissed. "The Princess doesn't like to be ignored. She knows her power and position."

Naruto's brow furrowed. "But Sasuke-"

"-has a certain standing with the Princess. One day, when you've known her for as long as Sasuke has, you will be granted that same priviledge."

"Hatake-san." The Princess called. Sasuke was rising from his servile stance, moving to stand beside her throne.

Kakashi also rose, leaving Naruto still on bended knee on the floor. He too kissed her offered hand.

"Princess," Kakashi began. "I have completed the task you have requested of me. Here is the boy you seek."

"The White Rabbit." She murmured. "It has been such a long time since we've all been together. An omen from the thread."

Kakashi beckoned him forward. Naruto stumbled as he stood up, muscles stiff from retaining the same pose for so long. Bowing awkwardly before the throne, Naruto was inwardly glad the Princess didn't offer he hand. He didn't know what to do with himself as it was.

That pale hand caught him by the chin and forced him to look up. Naruto gasped as their eyes met for the first time.

The Princess was tiny- like a delicate porcelain doll. Her pale _sakura_ hair was caught up in a neat ponytail a top her head. Her eyes, as clear and as startling green as the darkest peridot olivine, were wide-eyed and innocent but contained the barest hint of power in their depths.

"Stand up. You don't need to be so stiff. Relax- I won't bite."

Dazed, he stood. Those glittering eyes were all he could see. Naruto could drown in those eyes; he would do anything she asked of him. He would kill for her, die for her, live for her, steal for her-

She blinked and the spell was broken. Confusion washed over his mind. What the hell had just happened?

"Forgive me." The Princess muttered apologetically. "I just needed to be _sure_…"

Naruto blinked innocently. What did she have to be sure of?

She started speaking again but Naruto didn't hear a word.

"- your name?"

"What?" He responded blankly.

Sasuke growled in his exasperation. "She asked for your name dobe."

Sheepish, Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." He stuck out his hand.

Around him, Kakashi and Sasuke tensed.

The Princess stared at his outstretched hand before she began to giggle. Her giggles soon turned to laughter, lightening the tension in the room. Grasping the offered hand, she shook it and smiled brightly.

"Sakura. Haruno Sakura." She introduced herself.

Sakura let go of his hand and gracefully rose from her throne. "It was nice meeting you and all, Uzumaki-san. Please excuse me- I have lessons in a few minutes. Sasuke, if you would please-?"

The boy moved to follow her. Sakura gave them one last bright smile.

"I'll see you all at dinner." She said before taking hold of Sasuke's arm.

Naruto watched them leave. In the few months he had known the other boy, he had always seen him as calm and stoic individual, one who was too focused for his own good.

But in the presence of the Princess, Uchiha Sasuke softened. Not much, but enough to make a subtle difference. His usual smirk took on a new meaning as his lips slightly turned upwards at something the Princess said.

"Well!" Kakashi's voice broke through his thoughts. "Let's get back to training."

* * *

The years passed and their bond with each other grew. Wonderland sheltered them, parented them, _loved_ them…

But they're not twelve anymore. No, they are too twised to be called innocent any longer.

They are seventeen with a license to kill.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Haruno Sakura.

Uzumaki Naruto.

The Princess and her Shields.

Welcome to Wonderland.

Welcome to _my world_.


	2. Through the Looking Glass

Cold

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer: I don't own _Naruto, The Looking Glass Wars, _or _Alice in Wonderland. _I do however own the lyrics of the song.

* * *

Walking down the street with her friends, Watanuki Moegi openly stared at the stoplight next to her.

"Holy shit." Her best friend Sarutobi Konohamaru whispered in reverence.

The sleek black Mercedes S600 purred quietly at the stoplight. Beside it, a matching black Suzuki Hayabusa 1300 motorcycle revved its engine. Both the Mercedes's windows and the Suzuki helmet's visors were tinted a shade so dark Moegi was sure was illegal in Japan. They had matching license plates: ALYSS1 and ALYSS2

The light turned green and they shot off down the street. Moegi, Konohamaru, and Wakaba Udon ignored the flashing crosswalk sign to gape down the street after them.

"Holy shit." Konohamaru whispered again.

* * *

They were early for the first day of school like everyone else. People took advantage of the Academy's spacious grounds to mingle and catch up with people they hadn't seen since June.

Moegi stood in a circle with all of her friends, standing on top of a picnic table to relay this morning's events.

"Oh my God- I've never seen anything like it! It was _so_ cool! Too bad I could never afford one of _those_."

Murasaki Kimiko nudged the girl standing next to her. "Bet _you_ could Hanabi-chan."

Hyuuga Hanabi hadn't said a word since Moegi began her tale. "Hmm… yeah." She answered, still deep in thought.

_I wonder… could it be __**them**__?_

The sound of screeching tires drew their attention away from Moegi waving her arms wildly in the air. Looking out into the Academy's parking lot, Hanabi could see a sleek black Mercedes neatly parallel park in one of the spaces in front of the school. Behind it, a black Suzuki motorcycle turned off its engine.

"That's the car and bike I was telling you about!" Moegi shrieked.

The motorcyclist took off his helmet, running a hand through his spiky locks. He was the most handsome teenager the girls had ever seen. Evenly tanned skin, crystal clear sapphire eyes, and bright blonde hair carefully crafted into his gravity-defying hairstyle caught their eyes.

"Nice ride." One of the boys, Taisen Hiro, commented appreciatively.

The blonde boy walked over to Mercedes, helmet tucked under one arm, and tapped on the glass. The driver's door opened and out stepped the _other_ most handsome teenager they had ever laid eyes on. His dark clothing accentuated the paleness of his skin while his silky raven hair fell into a casual disarray of spikes. Kimiko wished she could see his eyes as they were obscured by a pair of sleek black Oakley sunglasses.

The blonde teen pocketed his keys and opened the backdoor of the Mercedes. He ducked his head down and came back up with two black backpacks, leaving his helmet in the car. He handed one to the raven teen who shouldered it as he pocketed his own set of keys.

"You know what Mercedes model that car is?" Konohamaru asked Hiro.

Hiro shrugged. "No clue. It's badass though."

The Mercedes driver walked around to the other side of the car, the side closest to the grounds, and opened the door. From her position atop the table, Moegi's view of the passenger inside was obstructed by the door itself. The teen offered his hand to whoever was in the seat and a pale leg stepped out from the car followed by the rest of the body. The blonde boy reached in from the other side to grab a green tote bag from the floor as his friend led the passenger to the sidewalk.

"Oh my God." Kimiko whispered in awe.

The blonde shut the door as his friend locked his car. He handed the green tote to the passenger, smiling broadly at her as he did so.

"Dude, she's freakin' hot!" Hiro yelled excitedly.

The girl, like her male companions, was inhumanly beautiful. A section of her pale _sakura_ locks were caught up in an elegant clip at the back of her head, leaving the rest to brush against her shoulder blades. She was delicately pale and petite- indeed, she reminded the freshman of a glass doll. Her eyes, like her raven-haired companion's, were obscured behind dark black Dolce&Gabbana sunglasses.

Hanabi watched them confidently stride across the lawn and disappear through the front door. It was them, all right. Did Hinata-nee-san know about this?

The warning bell rang and her friends scrambled to gather their belongings.

"Did you see them?" Moegi sighed dreamily.

Kimiko swooned. "All of them are so beautiful. Especially that girl. I wish I could be _her_."

Hanabi snorted. "No you don't. You have no idea what it's like to be her."

"How would _you_ know?" Moegi demanded impatiently. "Do _you_ know what it's like?"

"Obviously not." Hanabi retorted as they walked inside. "I couldn't even begin to _imagine_ what it's like living her life."

"Do you know her? You sound like you do." Hiro observed.

"Of course I do." The Hyuuga girl replied tartly. "They're some of my sister's best friends."

* * *

Utatane Koharu looked up from behind her glasses at the glass door of the front office. Something told her to be ready for whoever walked in through that door next. The bell rang overhead, signaling the day had already begun.

"I _told_ you Naruto it was this way!" A soft voice angrily chastised. "But _no…_ you had to stop and ask the _janitor_ on the _third floor_ why the bubble gum on the ceiling was dripping down in disgusting strands to the floor!"

"Gomen ne Sakura-chan!"

"Quiet dobe. We've found it, no thanks to you."

"_TEME!_"

A sharp sigh.

"Silence." The quiet voice said yet again.

The source of the conversation walked in through the glass door. Koharu nearly stopped in her tracks, taken aback by the newcomers.

The girl in the middle was obviously the leader of their trio, Koharu finally decided. It was evident in the regal way she carried herself, almost like a queen's. The girl smiled brightly and Koharu couldn't help but smile back despite her unease.

"Hello! We're here to pick up our schedules for the year since we couldn't make orientation earlier this week."

So that's why she had never seen them before. Koharu personally oversaw the scheduling table during orientation and would have remembered their elegant features.

"You are-?"

"Haruno Sakura." She answered. "And this is Uchiha Sasuke-"

She pointed to the boy on her left.

"-and Uzumaki Naruto."

The blonde gave a cheery smile.

"Our guardian called you… Furikaze Tsunade?"

The name rang a bell. "Oh yes. Tsunade-sama. She did say you were coming by before class."

Koharu picked up the folders labeled "ALYSS" on her desk. Why it had such an unusual label, Koharu didn't know, but she didn't care. She wanted them out of her presence soon. They reeked of blood and misery, especially the boys.

Haruno picked up the folders and gave each a cursory glance. "Everything's here. Just like she said." The girl muttered to her companions.

"Thank you." Haruno finally bowed and left her office, the teenage boys following her.

Koharu breathed a sigh of relief. Finally. She could work in peace without the sensation of her head in danger of being lopped off at any moment.

* * *

Sakura handed one folder to Naruto and the other to Sasuke. "The entire Academy's layout, security codes, and surveillance system are in your folders. You've got a copy of my locker number and combination, as well as the rest of the ANBU."

Sasuke pulled out his schedule. "And the schedules-?"

"They match." Sakura assured him. "Shikamaru took care of that this morning."

"Ne, ne, since when does Kurenai-san teach homeroom?"

"Since the Ugly Princess decided to send her ANBU to high school." A new voice said from behind them.

Sasuke tensed and shoved Sakura protectively behind him. Naruto leaped into action, twisting the newcomer's arm behind his back. The speaker flipped Naruto over and held him in a headlock.

"Sai." Sasuke glared, recognizing the speaker. "What are you doing here?"

The other boy shrugged. "Going to the bathroom. I'm on my way back to class though. You have homeroom with us."

Naruto struggled to escape from Sai's strong grip. "Yukuefumei- let go damnit!"

Sai released him and Naruto staggered back to Sakura's side. Rubbing his jaw, he said, "You didn't have to dig your nails into my face you know."

Sai ignored him. Opening the door, he walked in first. "Kurenai-sensei," he said flatly. "You have some lost strays."

Yuuhi Kurenai looked up from her planner and jolted with a start. Masking her surprise, she briskly said, "Sai, take a seat. I'll handle it."

Sakura bowed before her and handed Kurenai their tardy slips from the folders. In reality, they were nothing more than three blank slips of paper. The classroom buzzed with excitement; most of the students were present on the grounds that morning to watch their spectacular entrance onto campus.

"Class," Kurenai cleared her throat, bringing order to her room once more. "As you can see, we have some new students."

Sakura's gaze swept over the classroom. Out of the twenty-five, she knew two of her classmates. They were Wonderlanders, like her, Sasuke, and Naruto, and a part of her ANBU.

"Why don't you introduce yourself before you take your assigned seat?"

Naruto went first. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, seventeen, and I love ramen!"

The class erupted into laughter. He was different- goofy without even trying.

"Uchiha Sasuke." The teen introduced himself without any real feeling.

"Sasuke, you're hopeless." Naruto shook his head. "No personality whatsoever."

Sasuke glared at him, the say-one-more-word-and-I-will-rip-your-spine-out-Naruto glare. The other teen cringed; he hadn't seen that murderous expression on his teammate's face in such a long time.

"And I'm Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet all of you."

The girl bowed slightly before she straightened up to meet one of the ANBU's eyes in the back row. Smiling softly, Sakura nodded her head in recognition.

Eager to start the day, Kurenai briskly assigned the three to the vacant seats in the back corner of the room by the window.

"Hey- I didn't think you'd be in here." The ANBU Sakura acknowledged earlier whispered.

The girl met her friend's surprised blue eyes. "Of course Ino-pig. Where else would I be?"

"Well…"

Sakura groaned. "Don't tell me… Kakashi right?"

Haughtily, Yamanaka Ino tossed her light blonde hair. "Tsunade-sama actually. So how'd you do it? Convince them to let you free, I mean."

Sakura laughed softly. "It's amazing what a few tears, some well-placed threats, and two intimidating guardians can do. But you know Ino-" Sakura paused, staring out the window for a moment. "-they only let me go if Sasuke was in all my classes."

"He is your near guard Sakura." Ino reminded her.

The girl sighed and propped her head up on her hands. "Yeah, but I wish they wouldn't force me to be such a burden on him. I'm not doll."

Ino placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Sakura…"

The bell rang, disrupting their conversation. Sasuke stood up brusquely from his desk behind Sakura's and pulled her to her feet. "Let's go Sakura."

Shooting Ino one apologetic look, Sakura managed to grab her bag before Sasuke dragged her down the hallway. As they wove in and out through the crowded hallways, Sakura stole a glance at the other teen's face.

He was as stoic and expressionless as always. Dark obsidian showed nothing of his soul, his inner workings. Sighing again to herself, Sakura dug her heels into the ground, forcing Sasuke to stop.

"Look at me Sasuke."

Stare blankly ahead.

Tug.

"_Look at me!"_

He looked. Finally, a reaction.

Sakura grabbed his face and pulled it close to her own. Studying his eyes, she finally found what she was looking for.

Anger.

Grief.

Vengeance.

Pain.

Sorrow.

Hurt.

The girl softened and let go of him. Shaking her head, Sakura pulled him instead to their next class.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out that way." She apologized softly, not looking at her guardian.

Sasuke wrenched his hand away from hers and walked beside her down the hall. Tucking his free hand into his pocket, Sasuke smirked as he managed to get slightly ahead.

"You're annoying."

Stopping in her tracks, Sakura looked at her friend's retreating back. A broad smile stretched out on her face as she quickened her pace to catch up with Sasuke's long strides.

She was forgiven and that was all that really mattered to her.

When she finally caught up, Sakura hugged Sasuke tightly around the waist. "Thank you."

He looked away. "Whatever."

* * *

Naruto met up with them before lunch at his locker, taking care not to ruin the lunch Kakashi prepared for them in his locker as he dumped his books inside.

"Ne, ne, do you think Hinata-chan is here?"

"What do you think dobe?" Sasuke snapped. "She goes to the same school as us."

Snatching the bag from Naruto's hands, Sakura rifled through their lunch. "Can the two of you quit it so we can eat? I'm hungry!"

Naruto pushed open the cafeteria doors and the entire room looked up at them. "Why do we always make a grand entrance?" Naruto muttered to his friends. "It's not like we _try_ to…"

"Live with it Naruto." Sasuke said nonchalant as he spotted college freshman Hyuuga Neji discreetly beckoning them at the far back corner table of the shared cafeteria between the Academy's high school and college campuses.

They began to weave through the crowds of people who blocked their path, either to ask out one of the three or beg them to sit at their table. Sasuke ignored them, pushing people out of the way to make a path.

"Hey! Sakura-hime makes a grand entrance _again!_" Makimono Tenten laughed as they sat down at the table.

Sakura laughed as she gave her friend a brief hug. "Tenten, I missed seeing you at the Palace. How's your summer with Yamato?"

"Damn that man was hard!" Tenten exclaimed. "He was nice sure, but he taught me so much shit… wow. I never expected the amount of work he piled on me."

Sakura smiled serenely as she opened her lunch. "You asked for it."

"Yeah…" Tenten made a face. "Don't remind me. I had to endure a whole summer with Sai."

Naruto jumped up and put an arm around her. "I pity you. I really do."

Shrugging off his arm, Tenten said, "Yeah… glad to know I have some sympathy. Neji won't cut me any slack."

Sakura swatted Naruto's arm. "Oh please. Sai isn't that bad."

"Are you kidding me Sakura-chan?" Blue eyes wide, Naruto launched into what they called the Sai Expletive. "He talks all the time about how I lack penis, how Sasuke lacks penis-"

"Naruto…" Sasuke called through clenched teeth.

"-how Kakashi lacks penis, how everyone lacks a penis! Then he goes and insults _everyone_ in sight, including _you_ Sakura-chan, and you let him get away with it! _And-_"

"You know Naruto," Tenten interjected. "Not _everyone_ has a penis. I'd be disturbed if I woke up one morning with one."

Neji choked on his Gatorade. "What the hell?"

The college freshman shrugged. "Just saying."

"What were you saying?"

Sakura looked up and smiled brightly. "Shikamaru! Ino!" The girl jumped up to hug her friends.

Shikamaru awkwardly returned the hug, muttering "Troublesome," but everyone knew Shikamaru truly thought otherwise.

"You know Forehead, you're the talk of the Academy. You and your smexy bodyguards." Ino laughed, gesturing wildly to the crowd behind them.

Sakura threw her head back and laughed, a sound like tinkling wind chimes. "Ino-pig, you just want a piece of Naruto's ass."

"And give up my Shika-kun? No way in hell!"

* * *

Kakashi stood watching as the older woman gracefully maneuvered in between the rows of plants in her private greenhouse. Death in all sorts and varieties, poisons in their natural states, this greenhouse was a natural center for destruction and chaos.

"Kakashi, how is she?"

"Alyss?"

The woman snorted. "Who else? My mother was the last Alyss before..."

"Before he came. Bloody King of Hearts." Kakashi bowed his head. "At least she's in good hands. The simultaneous appearance of the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit are both good omens, correct Tsunade-sama?"

Furikaze Tsunade put her shears down and beckoned Kakashi to follow her to the maze outside. "In our world, this shattered piece of the world we live in, thread from certain silkworm catapillers are woven into cloth and the future can be read in the slubs of the weave. A distinct code if you will."

Kakashi grinned. "Yes. The other world manifested the idea into a bloody action film in a rare link to the other side."

Tsunade chuckled before turning serious. "For thousand of years, Earth has existed in a suspended state while we, this little shard of the whole, continued living. It is our mission to reconnect our fragment of the world to its original source because our shard is the most important one to the shattered human civilization."

"Kakashi, we are the imagination. And it is Sakura's duty as Alyss to bring that imagination back to Earth. She cannot fail in her duty to the universe as a whole. Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto are two essential components in ensuring that her mission _does not fail_."

The other man did not say anything. He knew his duty, her duty, their duty. Kakashi wondered why them, his three brats, his three (dare he say it) siblings. Fate marked them as extraordinary from their conception in their mothers' wombs. It's a miracle that all three of them survived past three.

Accidents occurred frequently in the shard. Death was a common occurance. Wonderland had no idea of how many Alysses, White Rabbits, Mad Hatters, Duchesses, Jabberwockys, etc. she had lost through the shard's distorted passage of time. Wonderland did not know.

Because Wonderland was nothing more than an exiled people's last link to the world they were severed from.

A computer.

And the society built around it.

* * *

The knock on her door did nothing to quiet her fears.

"Sasuke..."

The door opened and he entered the darkened room. Outside, the world was caught in another thunder storm. Kakashi said that Konoha did not storm all the time like it does now; the lightening against the obsidian sky reminding them of pieces of shattered glass. On certain days, the electrified air frightened Sakura and gave her chilling nightmares. Her nightmares often spoke of falling through the lightening cracks, alone and heartbroken. The dreams varied, but they all had the same end: Sakura would fall and the last thing she would see is Sasuke's stricken face.

"Princess."

She clutched his shirt tightly in her hands, olivine eyes wide with fear and gleaming with a frenzied craze.

"Don't leave me."

She ordered in a soft whisper, terror haunting her mad gaze.

A sudden wave of memories overcame Sasuke as lightening lit up the night sky. The bleeding corpses, the severed heads, his mother's glassy onyx eyes staring...

Staring,

Staring-

Questioning Sasuke over and over again-

"_Why?"_

His heart lurched and Sasuke climbed under the covers without a second thought. The familiarity of the situation struck him, erasing the crimson vision from his mind.

"_Don't leave me." The little girl whispered._

_Kakashi tucked them both into her still-spacious bed. "Sasuke-kun will stay with you Sakura-chan. He needs someone too."_

"_I don't need anybody." The boy retorted gruffly._

_He chuckled and ruffled Sasuke's hair. "If you say so Mad Hatter. Goodnight."_

_The room's silence amplified each blood-tainted memory, each tortured cry, each-_

_Wide peridot turned to him and her warm hand grasped his own tightly, disturbing his thoughts._

"_Ne, Sasuke-kun," She whispered._

"Can I be your sanctuary?"

Wrapping his arms around her slight frame, Sasuke drew her to his chest.

"Forever."

He answered softly.

And the pieces started to mend together.

* * *

The music sounded all wrong.

Her fingers stumbled over the keys, a single phrase repeating in her empty mind.

"_Imagination is locked away in WONDERLAND."_

Wonderland.

_Alice in Wonderland_ and all related-reading material were books. Fiction. Products of the mind in an age...

In what age?

The little girl cried out in her frustration. Why wouldn't her muse return to her? It had been years since _Sanctuary_, her last masterpiece, was completed.

Ten.

Whole.

_Fucking._

Years.

But the music would not return to her lifeless fingertips.

-

-

-

_Catatonic coma state._

_Heaven and Hell destroyed in my wake._

_My fragile sanity begins to break,_

_While my sanctuary's not too far away._

-

-

-

When will the doors of imagination fly open again?

* * *

Hey! Thanks for reading. I want to especially thank Jiade-03 and angel-puppeteer for their reviews... made me quite flattered.

For those of you who wanted to know, _Cold_ is written under the following influences:

-_ Alice in Wonderland _and _Through the Looking Glass;_ Lewis Carroll

_- The Looking Glass Wars_and_ Seeing Redd; _Frank Beddor

_- Neverwhere; _Neil Gaiman

_- Schneewittchen;_ angel-puppeteer

_- TSUBASA RESERVoir CHRoNicles; _CLAMP

_- Vampire Knight; _Hino Matsuri

- My extremely blunt "editor," Jiade-03, who points out everything I need to consider fixing when I get around to doing edits.

- My music, I mean the stuff I compose and record.

Stick around! This year promises to be a great year for us.

Ja ne!

-Callista Miralni


	3. Painting Roses Red

Cold

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer: you know… nothing!

* * *

_If I could find_

_A secret place_

_A secret place for you and me_

_If I had known _

_What I know now_

_Perhaps your death could be erased_

* * *

It was an ordinary autumn afternoon. Like always, Naruto and Sasuke dutifully accompanied Sakura to the Academy, her so-called "immersion" into an "Earthly" life, and attended classes.

"Matta..." Naruto yawned.

He dropped his arms to his sides and tensed. Beside him, Sasuke caught the slight pull of his partner's muscles. Farther back, Sakura walked with Ino, Tenten, and Hyuuga Hinata, chatting about the usual mundane girl stuff.

"Alyss..."

"She's with the Dormouse, Duchess, and Eaglet. Where are the Caterpillar and the Hare?" Sasuke answered in a low voice.

"Forty feet back, west flank. They're about ten feet apart." Naruto's gaze swept around the area.

The Academy's grounds were filled with innocent students. The wind blew through the trees, making it harder for Naruto to pick up on the sound of any attackers.

_Crack!_

"There!"

A series of senbon flew from his fingertips, disguised by the casual motion of shrugging on his backpack. Sasuke reacted quickly, pulling out his cell phone to dial a long-memorized number.

Confused, Sakura pulled her phone out of her bag and looked at the caller ID. Sasuke. He was only a few yards away, why bother-

"Oh." Tenten realized.

The group of girls started running towards the Mercedes parked at its usual spot on the curb. As they ran by Naruto, Hinata slipped the boy her car keys, knowing he would find her car easily enough. Sasuke casually tossed Hinata the keys to the Mercedes, trusting she would get the Princess back to Heart Palace safely.

"In the car Hime-sama." Ino said as she cheerfully shoved Sakura into the back seat, disguising her anxiety.

"Drive." Tenten gasped, glancing over her shoulder. At the edge of her vision, Neji and Sai were already in their cars and backing out of the lot.

Hinata pulled out of the space and accelerated out of the school grounds. The Academy was not safe; how on Earth could they have been compromised?

"What's going on?" Sakura cried shrilly, struggling against Ino's attempts to fasten the girl's seat belt around her. "Where is Sasuke? And Naruto? What the hell is going on?"

Fiddling with the radio, Tenten shushed her. "Listen! The Cat will tell us hopefully."

"-turn here Dormouse and straight ahead. It's a clear shot to the Palace. Kisame will take care of... nuisances."

"Itachi..." Sakura grumbled. "- and his puppets. What good will the Fish do?"

The slice of screaming flesh tore through her eardrums.

"_That_ is what good the Fish will do Princess." The Cheshire Cat -Uchiha Itachi- chuckled humorlessly through the radio.

* * *

Shikamaru yawned and held up the scrap of cloth Sai brought to him.

"Any luck?" His best friend, Akimichi Choji, asked as he munched his way through his third bag of chips that morning.

"Nope. I don't think it's one of theirs. Something new." Shikamaru thrust the scrap underneath the glass lid of a complicated looking machine. Laying his head down on his arms, Shikamaru closed his eyes and began to doze off again.

A red light blinked steadily in the dim laboratory.

WONDERLAND awakes.

* * *

Scanning the list of ANBU yet again, Naruto always wondered why he and Sasuke were on the list.

The ANBU, **A**ssasination and I**n**telligence **B**lack Operation **U**nits, were Wonderland's elite sector of agents. They were handpicked by Alyss for their myriad of skills. Ever since he swore fidelity to Sakura nearly five years ago, Naruto figured out the ANBU had another job besides being just a bunch of special tools for the Princess. They were coded to Carroll's original _Alice_ works, and their use paralleled their codenames' role in _The Looking Glass Wars_...

... to an extent.

Naruto still didn't understand why _he_ was the White Rabbit and why _Sasuke_ was the Mad Hatter. If anything, Sasuke's natural tact in diplomatic situations surpassed Naruto's acquired skill. But something on Kakashi's face that day five years ago when he found him told Naruto that ANBU were chosen for something more than a special talent. They were... _special_.

An omen from the thread, Sakura called it.

"Usurakontachi."

The book dropped on his head, waking him from his daze.

"Alyss calls."

Wordlessly, Naruto followed Sasuke out the library and downstairs to the lab.

-**NAME?**-

-_Uzumaki Naruto__-_

-**PASSWORD?**-

-_nihil aurum maneo__-_

-**WELCOME: WHITE RABBIT**-

-

-

-

-**NAME?**-

-_Uchiha Sasuke__-_

-**PASSWORD?**-

-_in ater, lux__-_

-**WELCOME: MAD HATTER**-

* * *

"It is time." Jabberwocky called. "_They_ have already begun to move. The sudden attack on the Academy ground told us as much."

Crimson eyes laced with the darkest hues of night eyed his princess at the head of the table. "Alyss, what do you say we do?" The Cheshire Cat spoke, slightly amused with the entire situation.

"Cat- it's not a game." Gryphon frowned.

Crimson met crimson. "Au contraire, it is. A game we stake our lives with to win."

The Cat stood up. "Hear me out. This is a game. We are a shard of the universe. Although our world seems to be as big as our source, everyone knows we are locked in a constant state of war waged between two private parties. The world knows but can do nothing to help us, victims of our strife. _They_ don't matter as much as _we_ do, because without us, they would be corpses littering the streets."

"You've got an unorthodox way of putting it but you're right Cheshire Cat." Alyss finally spoke.

"Princess-!"

"We fight so that others, even if their existence is meaningless to us on the grand scale, are given the chance to live and exercise the imaginations of their Earthly counterparts. But that does not mean we wage war with abandon."

"We will fight and maintain as much normalcy in the shard as much as possible." The White Rabbit announced, finally catching on.

Silence.

Then-

"We got a reading on the cloth." Mock Turtle announced, yawning slightly.

Her eyes sparkled with intrigue. "Who is it?" The Eaglet asked.

"Not who, _what_." Dormouse, the Mock Turtle's assistant, clarified. She passed copies of the results around the table.

"_What_ is it?"

* * *

_Bodies littered on the ground_

_Sightless faces, eerie sound_

_Can you hear their tortured cry…_

_-_

_-_

_-_

… _Sasuke-kun?_

* * *

It was the same.

The positioning of the corpses, the amount of blood that painted the walls, the ace of spades carved into the floor, ringed by rings, so many _rings_.

Who would do such a thing?

Oh, that's right, _he_ would.

His nightmares bring the vision back to life.

* * *

Kakashi watched Rock Lee and Inuzuka Kiba spar from the observation room placed above the basement training hall. Beside him, Itachi, dressed in his trademark red Uchiha-style cloak, fiddled with one of WONDERLAND's many cameras, nudging the delicate pieces back into place.

"I always wondered what would happen if WONDERLAND fell apart for good." Itachi commented idly.

Kakashi chuckled under his mask. "Sakura and Shikamaru would find a way fix it. Like they and their predecessors always do."

"You have an awful amount of faith in that tenant."

The older man shrugged. "What else is left to us?"

Itachi said nothing. Snapping the camera case closed, he held the repaired piece up to the light. "Kakashi- do they know? About the Tridiuum and Dodge Anders?

Charcoal gray glanced to the locked door.

"She does. The ANBU, except you and I, do not."

"Hn. Isn't it time you told them the _true_ power of Alyss?"

* * *

Gasping and reaching out to touch thin air, Uchiha Sasuke awoke in a cold sweat.

"Damn it."

Grabbing fistfuls of his hair, Sasuke pulled in an effort to distract himself from the nightmare. His plain bedroom remained almost unchanged since the day he moved in nearly thirteen years ago. Over time, Sakura, Kakashi, Itachi, and eventually Naruto made an effort to decorate his walls with _some_ kind of color, but he always took it down and rearranged the pieces of artwork to _his_ liking.

A soft, but sure, knock pounded on his door.

"Enter."

The door opened and Itachi walked in.

"_Nii-san, thank you for teaching me."_

"_It's what brothers do Sasuke. But just remember, one day you will have to surpass me. Prove to me that you are an Uchiha."_

"_I'm always an Uchiha!"_

_They stepped foot into the Uchiha district of Konoha. It was silent- too silent._

"_KYAA!!!"_

_The Massacre occurs_.

"Sasuke."

"Itachi."

The elder regarded his brother apprehensively, although his dark eyes showed no sign of his concern.

"You haven't been sleeping. I'll get Kurenai-san to make you a sleeping pill." Itachi noted.

Spiky head shot up. "Forget it."

Smiling, Itachi knew the reason for his brother's reluctance.

Sakura.

"Then tell me about your nightmare."

Sasuke chuckled darkly before looking at his brother.

The same face.

Same eyes.

Same blood.

Same nightmares.

"You already know Itachi."

* * *

Little rabbit, where have you gone?

Your little hole can't hide anyone

Little rabbit, what will you do-

When the Hunter comes looking for you?

-

-

-

Naruto sparred with Sasuke, Kakashi keeping vigil overhead.

"Sasuke-" the teen gasped between parries. "- you can't just do things like that."

"I already did Naruto." Sasuke snapped. "Drop it will you? _She's_ already given me crap for it, _Kakashi's_ lectured me, hell, even _Itachi_ said something. I don't need your drivel on top of it."

In two fluid motions, Sasuke pinned Naruto to the floor and placed his fingers on Naruto's jugular. At the last moment, Naruto managed to wrench his arm free and point his fingers at Sasuke's heart.

"Draw." Naruto concluded as Sasuke stood up. "You still shouldn't have done anything. We need the ANBU more than ever now to investigate the identity of our mysterious friend."

"I don't care usurakontachi. He shouldn't have pissed me off with his pointless challenges."

* * *

"Sasuke."

Naruto sighed deeply and shook his head. Beside him, Kakashi chuckled softly. They know what was in store for their comrade.

Sakura's eyes hardened into dark emeralds, lips drawn together in displeasure. Before her throne, Sasuke stood, his posture casual, almost mocking.

"You will take Rock Lee's mission. Retrieve the elixir located in the abandoned Kushina Corp laboratory ruins. Neji will be your tech."

Obsidian glared at her coldly. "No."

Her lips tightened further. "You are in no position to refuse this Mad Hatter."

"Alyss, you can't do this! It may have worked when we were younger but not now when we don't know what's out there!" Sasuke exploded.

"Silence!" Sakura snapped, jumping out of her throne. "I will not tolerate your excuses Mad Hatter!"

Naruto bit his lip and shared a stunned look with Kakashi. Sakura had never snapped at Sasuke before; he never tried to defy her before either.

The two teenagers surveyed each other coolly, neither breaking eye contact with the other's eyes. Sakura sank back down in her throne.

"Go." She dismissed.

Sasuke turned and stalked out the door. The room fell into a tense silence.

"Wasn't that a bit much Sakura-hime? You know how devoted he is to you." Naruto asked, breaking the silence.

The girl looked at him impassively before saying:

"White Rabbit, you will go with him."

Sapphire blue widened furiously. "What?" Naruto yelled. "Sasuke away from you, yeah, okay, fine, but me too? No way! Sasuke would have my head!"

"Naruto- just let it go and do as Alyss says." Kakashi urged, growing more nervous by the second as he felt the dangerous aura emitting from the girl.

"This isn't about what _Sasuke_ wants!" Sakura snarled. "He's not in charge of Wonderland- I am! I'm not a doll; quit fucking treating me like one!"

Kakashi tried to pacify her. "Sakura, Naruto only meant-"

"STOP IT! GET OUT- GET OUT OF MY FUCKING SIGHT!"

The older man tried to say something else but he thought better of it and slowly turned to walk out the door. Naruto followed after, pausing at the door to give the princess a sad glance.

"He loves you too much to leave your side Sakura." Naruto murmured softly. "Don't be so cruel to him please."

She ignored him, turning her attention to the ornate mirror hanging on the wall. The images of her deceased parents' faces flickered across before they were replaced by concentric rings.

"We've all had to make sacrifices Naruto. It's a part of the path Fate set for us."

The teen eyed her speculatively. "What about the end result? What lies at the end of Fate's path?"

Sakura did not answer, choosing to get up from her throne and walk out the door of the throne room. Naruto watched her retreating back before glancing at the mirror again.

"Is death the only sure thing in store for us at the end?" He murmured.

There was no one to answer him back.

* * *

In her dream, it was always the same thing.

A beautiful boy, about four years old, would run up to her and say:

"_Don't open Pandora's Box_."

Then the famed chest would appear at her feet, the key in her hand.

Slowly, she approached it, coming closer-

And closer-

_And closer_.

The key flew out of her hand and inserted into the lock, twisting open by itself.

Then the boy would look at her with sad eyes.

"_I told you so."_

-

-

-

Little girl, do you know what you've done?

You've brought to life the most sinister soul.

Can you run? Can you hide? Can you escape from your lie?

Tied up in strings and singing sweet lullabies.

Little girl, little girl, what have you done now?

_He _awakes.

The master of six-six-six.

Rinnegan eyes swirling 'round and 'round.

See his angel perched up high?

She sends his messages on Death's flight.

Are you next? Will you receive her death note?

Because once your name is written down…

It will _never_ be erased.


	4. The Pool of Tears

Cold

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer:... you already know. the music is MINE!

I'm toying around with the formatting so everything doesn't look so clumped together. Tell me what you think and if my borrowed formatting (from so many other authors) helps to make reading easier!

_

* * *

_

Sasuke gripped the handle of his kunai as he crept through the basement of Kushina Lab No. 5.

"_Hatter..."_ Neji's voice buzzed in his ear. "_The Rabbit found something._"

"What is it?" Sasuke hissed.

A long moment of silence. Then-

"_Files. And a shard."_

"Shard?" The mission from five years ago flashed through his mind. "Is it-?"

"_Yeah. You know what that means."_

"DAMN IT!"

He started to run. Through one door and out the other, the blueprints of the building instinctively etched in his muscles. Sasuke let himself be blindly guided, blatantly ignoring Neji's irritated yells. Coming to a sudden stop in the middle of a ruined workroom, onyx eyes immediately found his prized amidst the scattered schematics. Picking up the crystal (_why such a costly substance?_ he wondered) flask, Sasuke held it up to the light to examine its contents.

Terrified screams filled the air.

"_Sasuke! What are you doing?"_ Neji yelled.

The teen ignored him, mesmerized by the swirling dark liquid.

"_Sasuke? Sasuke! Sasuke, damn it, don't stare at it you fool!"_

A new voice, one he vaguely recognized.

Sakura.

Why should he listen to her? She's the one who sent him on this damned mission. Why should she prevent his completion of it?

"_SASUKE!_" Sakura cried out.

The boy blinked and lowered the flask.

"_Shimatta_!" He heard Naruto swear over the comlink, followed by the sound of shattering glass.

Pocketing the flask in his padded backpack, Sasuke sprinted out the lab, trying to find his teammate. A soft sound caught his attention and he parried an attack aimed at his head.

"Tayuya."

The fuchsia-haired assassin openly grinned. "Little Mad Hatter."

There was something in her smile that made Sasuke shudder. Eyes narrowed, Sasuke tried to make Tayuya falter, pushing against her katana with his own. The pressure repelled them and they sprang apart, glaring each other down.

A high-pitched whistle distracted their attention, followed by a blinding fiery explosion.

_BOOM!_

"_Hatter! Find the Rabbit and get the hell outta there!_" Neji frantically yelled.

Catching sight of Naruto's bright blond hair at the end of the flaming hallway, Sasuke hollered, "RABBIT!" at the top of his lungs, motioning with his hands to the planned escape route. He could hear the faint ring of Tayuya's blade as she moved to strike, recovered from their earlier match.

"You're not getting away this time damned Hatter! My commander desires your skill in his regiment. Why would you refuse the chance to own the world?" Tayuya shouted fiercely over the clang and clash of steel.

Sasuke ignored her. Another part of the lab exploded in a deafening explosion.

"Why would you refuse the chance to kill the one who destroyed _your_ world?"

His world stopped cold.

"_Sasuke..._" Her soft voice rang through his ears. She must have stolen the mic from Neji again.

"HATTER! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE-!" Naruto yelled at the end of the hallway, before ducking to stab an opponent through the heart.

"Join us, the SOUND. My commander can put every dream of yours into your waiting palm. All you have to do is..."

He stared at her for a moment.

"... take..."

"DAMN IT!"

"...my..."

"_Uchiha, if you take that hand, you are one hell of a self-righteous bastard."_

"... hand."

Onyx glanced at Tayuya's outstretched hand, following her arm upwards to meet her smirking, cruel eyes. Sasuke reached out for her hand, closing the distance between them.

"SASUKE!" Naruto roared.

_Slice!_

"I don't think so." Sasuke replied coolly, staring at Tayuya's decapitated head.

The head on the ground smirked. "As you wish then, Uchiha Sasuke, the _Mad Hatter_. But be warned- my commander is in every way a willing slave to his master and our master holds the puppet strings to end your miserable and pathetic life."

Sasuke gave the cackling head one last apathetic glance before he raised his katana and-

_STAB!_

-stabbed the SOUND assassin's body through the heart.

"No one controls me. I make my own fucking destiny." Sasuke told her corpse coldly.

The building erupted into flames and Naruto ran by him, picking him up around the middle and tossing him into Itachi's waiting arms onboard the helicopter.

"Sasuke." His brother intoned softly.

Brushing him off, Sasuke moved to take a seat away from him and away from Naruto. Pressing his forehead against the cool windowpane, he watched the flaming ruins of Kushina Lab No. 5 erupt into a blazing inferno.

.

.

.

_My dear sweet Alice_

_Locked in my world_

_Locked in chains_

_Held behind bars_

_My dear sweet Alice_

_Haven't you heard?_

_I won't let them take you_

_I won't let them have you_

_I won't let them chop_

_your_

_head_

_off_

.

.

.

We never forgive.

We never forget.

.

.

.

"Naruto-kun…"

The teen spun around at the sound of his name, muscles tensed to kill.

"Hinata-chan."

He visibly relaxed, his face lighting up in a wide smile.

The girl blushed and nervously twisted her fingers around each other.

Moments of innocence are precious in these trying times.

"Would you... would you join me for..."

Naruto always patiently waited for the rest of her query.

Hinata took a deep breath to gather her wits.

"... join me for lunch?"

She always asked him the same question every Saturday.

He bounded forward and clutched her hand, taking her with him.

"Of course Hinata-chan! That's what best friends are for!"

She always smiled despite the dull pain in her chest.

He would never know the pain he caused her.

Because as his best friend, she knew he would do anything to stop her pain.

Even if it meant severing himself.

"Let me tell Sakura-chan I'm leaving."

And she knew where his heart longed to belong.

With her.

No matter how much she hated the fact.

"Of course. The Princess would like to know."

But Hinata never gave up trying.

One day, Uzumaki Naruto would see her.

And love her.

.

.

.

_Nunquam lacrimosa love_

_I'm afraid to lose you now_

_Lost within my own dark world_

_Tell me lacrimosa love_

.

.

.

And to those who are most precious to us-

They are a fatal weakness.

.

.

.

"HYAA!"

"Hn."

"KYA!"

Grunt.

"TAKE THAT BASTARD!"

"Tenten."

"AHH!"

_Catch_.

They were so close, breaths mingling, hearts palpitating not from exertion, but from proximity, how they longed to hold, to touch, to live, to feel, to kis-

No.

No.

_No._

It is forbidden.

The number one unspoken rule after "You must obey Alyss" in Wonderland was this:

_Never fall in love_.

Especially with someone within the Organization.

Love is cruel.

Love is deadly.

Love is precious.

Love is-

_-a fatal weakness_.

Deep chocolate blinked. "Neji..." She said softly. "Are you okay?"

And no matter how much he wanted to say "No" and cry and weep and shed tears of blood and hold her like this forever-

He knew he shouldn't.

"Of course Tenten. You?"

And no matter how much she wanted to say "No" and cry and weep and catch tears of blood and be held like this forever-

She knew she shouldn't.

"Obviously! I'm stronger than you think! I'm not a doll!"

He cracked a soft smile and righted her on her feet.

No, Makimono Tenten was not a doll, like their precious Alyss, the heart of their cause.

To him, she was much more.

To Hyuuga Neji, Tenten _is_ the heart of his life.

.

.

.

_My dear sweet Rabbit_

_You're not a pawn_

_You're not a still doll_

_Bloody red king_

_My dear sweet Rabbit_

_I hear your call_

_Is there something?_

_Is there nothing?_

_Is there waiting a blade_

_behind_

_that_

_door?_

.

.

.

We kill them to obey her.

We obey them to kill her.

.

.

.

Rejected.

White.

Rabbit.

How did you know?

Standing naked before the looking glass, she surveyed the pale blemish on her left shoulder.

One Uzumaki Naruto would also have if he cared to look.

"Konan."

Muscled arms wrapped around her bare waist. But Konan does not care; she is too used to his presence, too used to his frigid touch.

"Pein-sama."

She focused her attention back on her reflection.

_Little forsaken white rabbit._

Why were you abandoned?

What is your sin?

I'll tell you Hakushi Konan.

Your sin...

is falling in love...

with the Bloody King of Hearts.

"I love you." Pein whispered in her ear, softly caressing her skin with icy fingertips.

You're guilty Hakushi Konan.

.

.

.

_Nunquam lacrimosa love_

_I'm afraid to lose you now_

_Lost within my own dark heart_

_Tell me lacrimosa love_

.

.

.

Guilt is the most powerful weapon.

With it, you can kill a man with a single word.

.

.

.

Hatake Kakashi closed his eyes and sank deeper into the warm water. It paid to live full time in Heart Palace; the private hot springs a little ways away from the main house was one of the many perks.

"_Kakashi!_"

He jerked upright, eyes searching wildly for the sound of her voice.

Rin.

"_Kakashi!"_

His personal phantoms coming back to haunt him at the most inopportune moment.

Obito.

"Kakashi."

The man looked up and realized Sarutobi Asuma sat across from him in the bubbling pool.

"They would not want you to mourn them. Not like this." Asuma took a long drag on his cigarette and exhaled slowly.

"Turn their death into a weapon to punish the one who is truly responsible."

Kakashi gave a low, dry chuckle and stared at the other man.

"Then that would be me. Because I'm responsible for the death of the last Mad Hatter and White Rabbit. Two prominent figures in our society, killed by the traitor, the fearsome Jabberwocky, the Beast."

Asuma laughed and took another puff on his cigarette. "You just don't get it do you? What about Sasuke and Naruto?"

"They need you to guide them Kakashi. Don't turn your back on them because you need to wallow in your guilt."

.

.

.

_Nunquam lacrimosa love_

_I'm afraid to lose you now_

_Lost within my own dark heart_

_Tell me lacrimosa love_

.

.

.

History has a funny way of repeating itself.

It's up to mankind to notice the trend.

.

.

.

An audience with Alyss is always something of interest.

Sakura sat ramrod straight in her chair, Sasuke flanking her right, Naruto her left. Both boys wore their formal attire- dark slacks, scarlet red coat, cream-colored button down shirt, white gloves, and black shoes.

Hyuuga Hanabi bowed before her sovereign. "Princess Alyss, I have come to seek an audience with you."

The girl inclined her head. "Proceed Lady Hanabi."

Hanabi passed a digital file folder to the recording secretary- today it was Rock Lee- and patiently waited for the data to appear in the glassy screen sitting in Sakura's hand.

"I have conducted a study of the history and past reincarnations of the previous and present Alyss and her ANBU and found the most disturbing trend."

Pursing her lips, Sakura scanned the material and looked up at the younger Wonderlander. "A brief summary then Lady Hanabi. I will study the material in-depth myself at a later time today."

Hanabi launched into a brief explanation. "In every era of history, each ANBU member and the Princess has manifested inside the shard. But what prevents the _full_ completion of the group is usually a mysterious and suspicious cause of death."

"That much has already been proved Hanabi-sama." Tsunade pointed out.

"But what about this Tsunade-sama?" Hanabi countered. "Each era's ANBU member dies exactly the same way. The circumstances may be slightly different, but in the end, _they all die by decapitation_."

Tsunade shivered as the girl's words rang through her head. The memories she tried so long to repress (_Mother? Mother? MOTHER! WHY?_) kept surfacing with every accentuated word.

Kakashi turned green. _Oh God…_ he thought with horror. _It's true…_

"On the same note," Hanabi continued. "Each ANBU member suffers through a great tragedy that defines his or her true identity. Take my sister, the Dormouse, for example."

Glancing up at Hinata slinking into the dark shadows of the room's pillars, Naruto could feel his heart going out to his best friend, wanting to hold her and shield her from the memories Hanabi was about to bring to light.

"The Mouse has always been noted for its courageous character, infinite wisdom, and invaluable research skills. But what most others don't know is this: the Mouse is an outcast from his or her own family, the greatest failure to exist within the family line in that era. Without Alyss-hime to make use of the Dormouse's much-needed skills, the Mouse falls into a depression and has a fatal run-in with the King of Hearts."

"And in the end, the Dormouse's head is displayed for all the world to see." Hanabi finished softly.

Sakura frowned and closed the data. "While this is all valuable information, how does this help our cause Lady Hanabi?" She asked, covering up the shivering dread she felt.

The girl twitched, frustrated. "Princess, why is it that in _this_ era we have all the ANBU assembled? Yes, Tsunade-sama and Hatake Kakashi-san have take measures to _find_ them all before the King of Hearts does but that alone is not enough. Some have even lived past their life expectancy, according to the trends of their lives. But why now?"

"I present this to you because I believe we need to know the histories of the ANBU in order to change the future. The book has indicated as much that each ANBU is an important piece of the larger puzzle in order to restore our world to its previous state."

Smiling softly at Hanabi's satisfactory answer, Sakura dismissed the court. "Sasuke, Naruto-" she called. "Take a copy of Lady Hanabi's data and study it for yourselves. Perhaps you'll find the answers you seek."

Gingerly, Sasuke took the screen and sorted through the file folders. Finally he found the one he was looking for, the one labeled _Mad Hatter_. His fingertips hovered over the touch screen before he changed his mind and shoved the reader into his pocket.

_Later later later later_- He told himself.

.

.

.

_Tell me lacrimosa love_

.

.

.

It's improper; don't even bother entertaining such fantasies.

The best way to show your affection is to protect her with your life.

.

.

.

"Sakura-chan."

The teen sat up from the divan, with a hand pressed to her pounding temple. She smiled tiredly, classroom textbooks and assignments scattered all over the floor and coffee table beside her.

"Naruto." She greeted. "What's up?"

Sometimes, Naruto wondered how Sakura could act like a normal (if normal is what you could call their world) teenager in pressing times like these.

"Not much." He shrugged. "Sasuke's locked himself in his room again and is being a complete bastard. He doesn't want to spar with me."

Chuckling softly, Sakura responded, "Don't be selfish. Sasuke-kun needs some time to himself too."

Tapping his finger on his chin, Naruto suddenly exclaimed, "Hey… why don't you spar with me?"

The girl looked at him speechless. No one, _no one_ had ever asked her that before. No one had ever treated Sakura like his or her equal. She was always above them, a please-handle-with-care-and-respect object.

She smiled brightly and got off the divan. "Okay."

Sakura loved Naruto for one reason and one reason only.

He made her feel _human_.

.

.

.

_For seven times_

_I saw the same dark grim way to die_

_For seven lives _

_I know my sanctuary's been there every time_

He gripped her shoulder gently, an almost comfortingly, at least for him. The girl abruptly stopped playing the piano.

"When are you going to stop running away?"

She shook him off. "Leave me alone." She snarled. "I don't need your fucking sympathy. Quit playing the pity act- it doesn't suit you."

Silence. Then-

"You're breaking my heart." The boy murmured softly.

The girl spun around, jumped out of her chair and slapped him hard on the face.

_SMACK!_

"You already _broke_ my heart."

Dark eyes swirling with mixed emotions, he lowered his lids and backed away. Turning around, he left the room and shut the door, leaving her breathing heavily in her anger. Marching back to her place, she resumed the piece where she left off.

_Can I be your sanctuary?_

_Can I be your wings to fly?_

'_Cause I'm a desperate angel with a need to die_

_And will you be my sanctuary?_

_Hold me close and not let go_

_Even as my glass world shatters, my sanctuary remains forever_

And behind the closed door, the boy slid down the wall, buried his head in his arms and wept for everything he had never known and lost.

"Sakura."

* * *

Author's Note:

WOOT! IT'S DONE!

I'm sorry for the delay. Things got kinda crazy around my house and I really did lose all inspiration all together for this chapter. Then I started reading _Vampire Knight_ again and BAM! Inspiration hit like a ten-force gale.

Things are starting to move forward… I love this fic 'cause it's so easy to write even though I have no idea where the hell I'm going with each chapter (and I lose my muse from time to time but let's not talk about _that_). The pieces are starting to line up and whatnot.

Please review! Thank you for reading!

Ja ne!

Callista Miralni


	5. The Chessboard Desert

Cold

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer: the usual. I don't own jack-squat. Except for the music… you steal, I'll _kill_ you.

* * *

"Yeah and so the lawyer says, 'Fuck the children!' and the pilot asks, 'Do we have time?'"

Sakura fought a grin as she tried to scowl at Naruto for the inappropriate joke. "Naruto!"

The other teen let out a laugh. "C'mon Sakura-chan... you know it's funny. I can see the grin on your face you're trying to hide!"

"Doesn't matter!" The smile vanished.

"Usurakontachi." Sasuke sighed. "Shut up already. You're not funny."

"You have no sense of humor what so ever!"

"Tch."

They walked down the twisting corridors to the throne room for Sakura's daily morning briefing.

"Ne ne Sakura-chan, have you read Hanabi's file yet?" Naruto laced his fingers behind his head.

She shook her head. "Not all of it. Have either of you read your files?"

"No. It's easier to start with the lower ranking ANBU and work your way up." Sasuke replied.

Sakura gave him a pointed look but didn't say anything more. Her unspoken words hung in the air and filled the silence.

_I know why you haven't read yours yet Sasuke. You're afraid of what you might find out._

"Nah! Kiba, Lee, and I got into a ramen eating contest last night and I won!" Naruto excused himself.

They reached the side door to the throne room and Sasuke held it open for the other two. Sakura frowned and lectured Naruto on the importance of a healthy and well-balanced diet, stressing what the excess sodium could do to his system.

"Hai hai Sakura-chan! But- hey... why are there so many people in here?"

Sasuke and Sakura looked. Naruto was right; there _were _a lot of people in the room.

Specifically, a lot of _male_ people.

The pieces clicked in Sakura's brain. _Kakashi..._

"Sasuke, Naruto." Sakura commanded as she sank into her chair. "Get these people out and bring me Kakashi."

"Somebody call for me?" A singsong voice called as the masked man waltzed through the main doors, preventing Sasuke and Naruto from throwing people out the room.

"Kakashi-" The princess growled. "What-" She gestured to the crowd. "-is the meaning of this?"

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well... according to Lady Hanabi, all you need to do is get married."

Beside her throne, Sasuke and Naruto flinched. Sakura get married? Since when? For what? Over their dead bodies!

_I knew it._ The princess twitched. "So you decided to gather every male bachelor in Wonderland? You IDIOT!" Sakura yelled. "Did you not read Hanabi's file carefully enough?"

"I did Hime-sama." Kakashi answered somberly, almost sadly. "But this is not my doing alone. The upper echelons of the Society wish to see you betrothed as quickly as possible."

"That's bullshit!" Naruto burst out.

"Unfortunately, that's politics. You know, they say politics as the second oldest profession in the world bears a great resemblance to the firs-"

"Kakashi." Sasuke coldly stopped his mentor's tirade. "Get to the point."

The smile flitted away as quickly as it came.

"In addition to her regular duty as Alyss, Haruno Sakura has a new objective."

The three held their breath, the world freezing with their hearts.

"Find Dodge Anders."

.

.

.

Kurenai locked the door of her classroom and walked down the empty darkened hall. The fluorescent lights flickered ominously overhead but the woman ignored them and continued walking down the stairs. Her phone rang from her left pocket and she tensed before looking over her shoulder and pulling the ringing device out.

"Hello?" She answered cautiously.

"_Gryphon, what's your ten-twenty?_"

"The usual post. I'm about to enter the mousehole."

"_I suggest you take the Ace of Clubs and show your royal flush."_

Kurenai tensed. "What?"

"_Hurry Gryphon, there's not much time. The ANBU are already on the move. There's a situation at the Uchiha cemetery."_

The line went dead. Kurenai stared at her phone for a moment longer before shoving it back in her pocket and sprinting to her car parked in the teachers' lot. Shifting into reverse, the tires of her Nissan coupe squealed before she shifted into drive and shot out of the lot. Pulling into the stately Clubs mansion, Kurenai parked her car and left it running, pulling out a Glock 36 handgun from her glovebox.

"Hisashi!" She yelled, pounding on the door. "Hisashi, you gotta move and evacua-"

Kurenai stopped when she heard the ominous sound.

_Tick._

Turning around, she spotted it under the front fender of her car.

_Tock._

"Oh my God."

_Tick._

The little blinking LED light taunted her, mocking her for her carelessness.

_Tock._

Kurenai looked at her phone and searched for the last number called.

_Tick._

But it was a safe number from the Palace.

_Tock._

"We've been compromised." Kurenai realized.

_Beeep._

The door opened and the Lord of Clubs, the revered Hyuuga Hisashi, glanced at the ANBU agent in surprise. "Gryphon?"

She shoved him inside the mansion's gilded marble foyer. "Tell everyone to get to the basement. NOW!"

_Beeep._

Hisashi fumbled for the emergency evacuation switch. As soon as he pressed it, the lights dimmed and glowed red. Over the intercom, an automated voice repeated, "Code Orange. Code Orange. Code Orange."

"Kurenai, I would really appreciate an explanation." Hisashi said sternly.

_Beeeeeeeep._

"GET DOWN NOW!" She pushed him down to the floor and covered him with her body as a shield as her Nissan coupe exploded in the front drive, burning the ground around it, the flames racing towards the mansion. Cursing, Kurenai got up and hauled the Lord Clubs to his feet. Opening the basement stairway door, she shoved him though before following and locking the door.

"Wonderland has been compromised." She explained quickly as she led the Clubs household to a shuttle bus that would take them through the underground tunnels leading towards a safe point twelve miles away. Starting the vehicle, Kurenai waited for Hisashi to climb into the front seat.

"The House of Clubs is their final target before moving onto Heart Palace. Up until now, no one has succeeded in eradicating the Hyuugas simply because WONDERLAND has warned us of every attempt. Unfortunately, someone has tapped into the secure satellites and used our phone lines to launch a double attack and hopefully blindside us. _You're_ the real target."

Hisashi looked grim. "And the Princess?"

Kurenai double-checked everyone had boarded the shuttle before closing the doors and shooting down the now-open steel doors.

"Safe. For the moment. No one except for Tsunade-sama, Kakashi and her guards know."

"At the very least," Hisashi said. "If we, the House of Clubs, the Hyuuga, are destroyed en route to sanctuary, we know our mission will still continue with Alyss."

Kurenai said nothing as she remotely closed the steel doors and sealed off the tunnel.

"Let's pray to God Sakura is safe."

.

.

.

_This can't be._

When Sakura barged into his room and demanded he read the file labeled "Dodge Anders," Sasuke didn't know what to expect. But from reading _The Looking Glass Wars_, the metaphorical prophecy of WONDERLAND, he knew this much:

Dodge Anders is a myth. A figure of legend. A hero created to make the women of the shard swoon and long for the same unswerving devotion from their other halves.

So this is what Lady Hanabi uncovered. This vital information is why the noble House of Clubs, the Hyuugas, almost burned to the ground two weeks ago.

Uchiha Sasuke looked up at his sovereign momentarily before continuing to read the rest of the file.

"Dodge Anders has never been found, has he Sakura?" Sasuke stated.

The girl refused to meet his gaze.

"Damn it!"

Throwing the panel on his bed, Sasuke angrily strode towards his window, watching the thunder play across the black clouds of night.

"There is a reason Dodge has never been found." Sakura answered quietly.

Surprised, Sasuke looked back at her.

"Alyss has never fallen in love."

With a sharp intake of breath, Sasuke turned his gaze back to the thunder.

"And you? Have you fallen in love?"

She only laughed.

And he felt his heart break into pieces.

.

.

.

"Ne, ne, Sai-kun, what do you think about this Dodge Anders?"

The younger ANBU were gathered in the library since Sakura had private lessons with Tsunade-sama and the older members were conducting some hush-hush, top secret research through WONDERLAND's voluminous archives.

Sai smiled. "Why Ino- do you fancy yourself as being Alyss's consort?"

Shikamaru snorted. "It's not funny Shika!" Ino wailed. "Make him stop! You know that's not true- you know the one I lov-"

She stopped midsentence, realizing she was about to spill her greatest secret.

"Well I think he must be pretty legit." Tenten broke in, shattering the awkward silence. "I mean, have you read that kid's file?"

She ticked off all the points with her fingers. "Witnessed a great tragedy resulting in the death of his family, swore to take revenge against the perpetrator, childhood friend of Alyss, loved Alyss since childhood but can't say anything because of their class differences, a fighting prodigy, cold, ruthless, reckless- this kid's a piece of work all right. They say this guy's supposed to be on par with Hatter."

Shikamaru leaned forward. "What concerns me is why haven't we heard about this Dodge-figure before? Why is it only the junior members are left in the dark but the senior ANBU seem to to know exactly who this character is?"

"That's not true." Hinata pointed out. "I asked Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-san and Gai-san and they didn't know who he was either."

"Does Itachi-nii know?" Ino asked. All eyes turned to Sasuke.

Scowling at the unwanted attention, Sasuke growled, "I have no idea. He always seems to know everything, so probably."

They heard a distinct set of wind chimes ringing through the air. "That would be you." Naruto murmured to Sasuke, stating the obvious. "She told me the next time she called, Tsunade-sama wanted to talk to you about something."

"Hn." The raven-haired teen murmured as he got out of his seat and walked out the Library.

"Anyways," Tenten resumed their conversation. "Who do you think is Dodge Anders?"

Neji snorted. "Isn't that obvious?" He crossed his arms. "It can only be Uchiha."

"Nuh-uh!" Kiba exclaimed. "He doesn't love Sakura! He doesn't love anybody!"

Chouji, Lee, and Naruto nodded emphatically, agreeing with that statement.

Smirking, Neji shared a knowing look with Sai and Shikamaru. "You sure about that?"

And Naruto felt his heart break in pieces.

.

.

.

"Is this a good idea?" Tenten questioned.

"It's fine!" Ino dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Some of the guys are going to the bar down the street and we're in a Wonderland safe district. We'll be fine."

"Not that..." Tenten trailed off. "Are you sure it's a good idea to dress Sakura-hime like _that?_"

Their gaze shifted to their princess, uncomfortably dressed in an outfit of Ino's choosing and stiffly seated in the window seat. Her olivine eyes were frosty as she glared at Ino.

Ino shuddered but gave Tenten a bright smile. "It's fine..."

.

.

.

Sasuke opened up his well-thumbed through copy of _LGW,_ ignoring the droplets of water dripping on his shoulders courtesy of his wet hair.

"Have you seen Sakura?" He asked his partner who insisted on getting dressed in his room after their usual afternoon practice. "Your room is closer to the bathroom!" Naruto explained when he barged into Sasuke's room with just a towel on. "Besides, I think Tenten accidentally gave you my clothes from the laundry this morning. They're not in my room."

"Huh?" Naruto asked blankly, midway lacing up his sneakers. "Are you serious? You don't know where she is?"

Dark obsidian twitched. "Just tell me."

"She went with Ino to that one club the girls always go to. Me and some of the guys are thinking about going to either that bar down the street or there for some drinks."

That one club? Ahh... it must be the Hookah. Sasuke shoved his book aside and began to pull out appropriate clothes from his drawer. Changing out of his clean sweatpants, Sasuke pulled the dark turtleneck over his head and continued to ignore his teammate.

Naruto regarded his friend cautiously. "Did Ino not say anything to you?"

Grabbing his wallet and a set of keys from his dresser, Sasuke cooly replied, "I'm taking the Hayabusa," before walking out the door.

Dumbfounded, Naruto stared after his best friend and glanced at the remaining set of keys lying where Sasuke left them. "Damn him! That means I have to take the Mercedes and ruin my badass image!"

.

.

.

"... or maybe not."

Tenten mumbled as she grudgingly accompanied Ino, Hinata, and Sakura to Ino's favorite club. There seemed to be more people on the floor tonight, the tables crammed with bodies, the alcohol flowing freely from the bartender's hands.

"Ooh!" Ino squealed. "I love this song!" She pulled Hinata and Sakura's hands out to the floor, singing as she went.

"_Can you see me falling through the sky?_

_Torn, bloody and broken, missing a wing to fly._

_Can you hear me screaming in agony?_

_The thousand cruel lashes spell out your name."_

Sakura tensed. She knew this song... almost too well. A softer, slower, more melancholic melody haunted her dreams.

_SASUKE!_

"Dance Sakura dance! This is a rare night for us so just let go!" Ino screamed.

Robotically, Sakura copied her movements, moving fluidly without thinking at all. Many people danced with her but she paid them no attention, solely focused on the hypnotic melody blaring through the speakers. Sometime amidst the chaos of the floor, Hinata got pulled away from them, dancing with a stranger under the dim lights of the room. Tenten chatted with someone at the bar- Sakura didn't take a closer look.

"I wonder..." A soft voice drawled in her ear. "If you'll ever notice the people around you."

She stopped dancing but the voice seized her by the arms and ordered, "Don't stop."

"Why are you here..." The girl turned around to face the demanding stranger.

"Itachi-nii?"

And Itachi only smiled.

"Look-" He inclined his head to a person standing behind her. "Your pet wants your affection."

The warm hand encasing her own was all Sakura needed to know who it was.

"Sasuke."

He took one look at her and frowned.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?"

.

.

.

BEEP.

BEEP.

BEEP.

BEEP.

The red lights flashed throughout Shikamaru's underground laboratory.

"Shit!" Kakashi swore as the monitor attached to WONDERLAND's mainframe went haywire with images of a nighttime storm, a cigarette glowing in the darkness, three figures, the familiar fire symbol etched in cloth, and a shred of dark hair filling the screen. "This is not good... KURENAI!"

The Gryphon was at his side in an instant.

"What the hell is that?" The woman pointed at a blurred figure on the screen.

Squinting, Kakashi tried to make sense of the distorted images WONDERLAND displayed. No one knew how the computer predicted the future (it's a computer for God's sake!) but every time it showed a hint of events to come, the result was usually not pretty.

"It's her."

Turning around, they saw Itachi standing behind them. Leaning forward, he pointed one slim finger at the figure Kurenai pointed out earlier.

"The SOUND no longer has use for her since Makimono Tenten stripped her of her ANBU status nine years ago. How kind of them to deliver us the body for burial after they were done ripping away all her secrets."

Kurenai gasped as her mind suddenly understood who Itachi was referring to.

Mitarashi Anko.

Her best friend.

"No."

.

.

.

"You are in deep shit."

Naruto grinned, sapphire blue slyly smirking at Ino over his glass of slightly spiked orange juice.

The girl groaned and buried her head in her hands. "Shikamaru is going to _kill_ me if Sasuke chews me out one more time!"

The teen shrugged nonchalantly. "It's your fault Ino." Naruto pointed out. "You didn't tell Sasuke."

"Yeah but I told you, Kakashi, Tsunade-sama, practically _everyone_ in the palace!" She snapped back.

"Doesn't matter. You didn't tell Sasuke and that's why he's freaking out." Naruto smirked, taking another sip.

Locked inside a private suite high above the dance floor, the ANBU waited with bated breath for their commander, the furious Mad Hatter, to finish berating the princess.

"How could you be so reckless and irresponsible-?"

"Oh right. Like shifting the blame to me will solve everything!"

"It doesn't fucking matter Sakura-"

"Like hell it matters! It matters to you! For one thing, you haven't listened to a word-"

"Ahh..." Naruto sighed. "The sweet notes of discord from the old married couple. I will never tire of the sound."

Wide-eyed, Inuzuka Kiba punched Naruto in the face, spilling Naruto's drink all over his clothes. "What the fuck was that for?" The White Rabbit demanded.

"Sorry." Kiba apologized half-heartedly, watching him warily from the corner of his eye. "You sounded too intelligent to be our dumbass lieutenant."

"Don't be unreasonable Sasuke-"

"I'm trying to protect you!"

"Maybe I don't want your protection!" Sakura screamed.

The room went silent.

"Oh shit." Hinata gasped.

Sasuke glowered at her before turning away and storming out the door.

"Well," Ino cleared her throat nervously. "That went well."

But Alyss sank to the floor in a pool of tears.

.

.

.

His cigarette light up the darkness as Sarutobi Asuma knelt down in the muddy ground to retrieve the body. No doubt about it, this was the exact scene Kurenai, Kakashi, and Itachi saw in WONDERLAND's monitor. Behind him, his assigned field partner, Maito Gai, stood shell-shocked.

"It's her..." Gai trailed off.

The beaten face could not be the same one that drove Asuma crazy when he was a child. Those mocking, eagle-sharp mahogany eyes were glass in death, the same pink lips that called him merciless names as a child were cold and bloodless. He could remember the girl's spunk and determination to be the best guardian over the then-infant Alyss. He could remember growing up with her.

Asuma could also remember the day she met him at their pre-arranged meeting point with a terrified and bloody girl in tow. The child was covered with the blood of her pursuers, the oversized katana in her hands gleaming with well-practiced confidence. He could recall how at the last moment, she let herself be taken by their hunters so that the child could live.

"Did she know, that day she rescued the girl, that she secured her replacement in the ANBU?" Gai suddenly asked him, thinking on his even-tempered trainee.

It was a question Asuma often asked himself.

"I don't know. But we'd better get the body back to Heart Palace for the Duchess to examine."

.

.

.

_Why the fuck does this hurt so damn much?_

Sasuke mercilessly pounded on Kiba's black punching bag, ignoring the teen's whimpering cries of protest as his possession was mutilated to the point of uselessness.

"Dude." Sai shook his head. "It's pointless to get through to him."

"What I really want to know-" Neji glared. "-is why that dumbass is acting like this in the first place. He shouldn't have blown up at her in the club."

Tenten slapped her partner on the arm. "Have some compassion!" The girl snapped. "It's not just Sasuke... it's Sakura too."

"Well, if he would only pull that stick outta his ass and realize what he's spent years denying what everyone knows-" Sai mused aloud before Itachi walked in.

"Sasuke."

The room went still.

"The Jabberwocky calls."

Kakashi.

_Finally._

.

.

.

Methodically, Ino pulled on a pair of white surgical gloves and mentally prepared herself to perform the autopsy. This was her job as The Duchess- investigate, discover, and learn every aspect of the King of Heart's trade. Ino learned every method of decapitation, every way to strike a man dead with fear alone, every practice of stripping a body of its secrets.

Her hands will forever be stained in blood.

"Are you ready?" Hinata asked, her pen poised to dictate Ino's verbal findings. Behind her, Shikamaru stood waiting before WONDERLAND to run comparisons with previous cases.

Nodding, Ino cleared her throat. "Name: Mitarashi Anko. Rank: Eaglet. Age: thirty-one. Health condition prior to death: malnourishment, repeated torture, three poisonings in the last ten years, and multiple wound infections. Cause of death:-"

At this, Ino stopped, realizing what was wrong with this particular body.

"Hinata." She called out in a strangled voice. "Her head is still on her neck. There's no damage whatsoever to her neck or associated organs."

How could this be when Mitarashi Anko was one of them? One of Alyss's prized ANBU, the Eaglet?

How could this be?

Shikamaru stared at his lab assistant and his secret lov- no, childhood friend, voicing aloud his thoughts.

"Tenten." He answered. "When they declared her as the Eaglet, the title went from Anko-san to her. Anko-san is no longer one of us and wouldn't die from the usual method. In a way, that saved her life and kept her alive during the eleven years she was held in captivity, that is, until the King of Hearts found out who the real Eaglet is."

"Of course." Ino breathed. "The declaration occurred two years after Tenten became a part of Wonderland. Anko was the one who rescued Tenten before she herself got captured by the very person who was trying to kill the girl."

Hinata frowned. "But why now? Why not nine years ago, when the title passed from Anko-san to Tenten?"

The other two froze.

Why would it be now?

.

.

.

"Sakura-san," Tenten said. "Tsunade-sama requires your presence in the throne room."

The pen continued to scratch away, the complex calculus equations glaring out in stark contrast to the white paper. Sakura refused to acknowledge her aide, preferring to sit and finish her homework.

"Sakura-hime..." Tenten tried again.

"Go send the White Queen as my representative. That is one of her duties, is it not?" Sakura finally replied, still concentrating on her homework.

Surprised by her frosty tone, Tenten looked down and softly replied, "Hai," bowing as she left the room.

.

.

.

Tsunade twitched.

"That girl has some nerve, turning down the council like this." She murmured.

Seated at the table behind her, her old childhood friend Jiraiya laughed as he took a sip of his sake. "What did you expect?" The White King guffawed. "Alyss has a mind of her own. It's only to be expected, considering the recent fight between her and the Hatter."

"Ridiculous." Tsunade scoffed. "I wish they would grow up and get their act together. They're disgracing Wonderland with their childish displays of temperament."

"Yes well..." Jiraiya poured her a cup of sake. "It's not easy carrying the weight of the world from a young age. The Uchiha Massacre-"

He stopped with one sharp look from Tsunade.

"Don't speak of it." She said firmly. "It's the greatest tragedy in the history of the world. Do not so casually bring up the dead."

"Is it?" The King asked her shrewdly. "If the Uchiha Massacre is mankind's greatest tragedy, then what do you call the heartbreaking story unfolding before your eyes?"

Her gaze was unreadable as she drank the sake in one gulp.

"Unfortunately necessary."

.

.

.

"Sakura."

She continued to ignore him.

Ripping the book out of her hands, Sasuke scowled at the girl. She coolly looked past him, refusing to say a word.

"Stop being so childish."

Leaning forward to snatch her book back from Sasuke's hands, Sakura opened up to her page and resumed reading. He grabbed her book again and threw it across the room.

"_Sasuke!_"

"Is that all I needed to do to make you talk to me?" He asked coldly. "If I had known that before, I would have done something about this earlier."

Sighing, Sakura finally made eye contact with him. "Why does it matter to you?"

"Why do you think it matters?"

"I don't know!" The girl cried out in exasperation. "Why don't you tell me? You're so damn difficult to read-"

_SLAM._

Bringing his face close to her own, Sasuke growled, "Why do you think I care?"

"I need you Alyss. I need you like the air I breathe, like the flowers need the sun, like clouds need the sky. Don't you _ever_ forget that."

Sakura lowered her eyes and fought the unexpected wave of sadness that hit her heart.

"Of course. I promised you, didn't I? In addition to your services as the Mad Hatter, I promised to grant you this one request." She answered automatically. "When the time comes, _you_ will be the one to bring me the head of the King of Hearts."

Giving her an unreadable stare, Sasuke mutely nodded and, sensing that the girl wanted him out of her sight, left the room. Once he had gone out of earshot, Sakura broke down once again. Lightening flashed through the window as another storm swept the planet.

"Sasuke-kun."

.

.

.

The blond teen stared at his dejected best friend.

"She turned you away again."

It was a statement, not a question.

Placing an ear against the music room door, the boy noted, "She changed songs."

"Rima." The dark-haired teen explained throatily. "Her Alice-in-Wonderland song."

_Rima_ was too dark, too...

What was the word?

… heartbreaking_._

"She's singing."

Without hearing her voice, the boy knew what the girl sang.

Glancing back at his melancholic best friend, the boy opened his mouth to say something but an echoing discord ringing out from the piano distracted his thoughts, soon followed by soft sob. They both stiffened and raced into the music room, disregarding the girl's wish for them to stay out of her sight.

Cradling her in his arms, the dark-haired teen softly whispered her own lyrics back to her.

_Lost within my own dark heart_

_Tell me lacrimosa-_

"-love." She finished the chorus with him.

Wiping her tears away with the back of her hand, she stood up and walked out of his hold.

"This will be the last time you see me cry. I promise you that." She vowed with a watery smile.

_Bullshit.

* * *

_

Author's notes:

Sorry for the delay but this chapter's all over the place. Some serious editing was required to make all the ideas fit and the pieces flow. Granted, I could have cut stuff out and saved it for a later chapter but... I felt like it was better to do it all now. Any cliffhangers will hopefully serve as a point to build the next chapter one.

Thank you so much to my readers and reviewers for their support and kind words of praise. I don't know where I'd be without any of you. ^^

Ja ne-

Callista Miralni


	6. The Lion and the Unicorn

Cold

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer:... and here we go again.

Oh yeah. There will be some shameless jokes and references to another "_Alice"_ manga in this chapter. XD I couldn't help it... it worked too well.

Beware all _Alice_-based works... you will be victimized at one point or another in the course of this fanfic.

* * *

"So!" Ino thumbed through this month's issue of French _Vogue._ "What do you think Sa~ku~ra-chan?"

Peering over her copy of _Hana to Yume_, Sakura blankly asked, "What do I think about what?"

Brandishing a finger in front of her sovereign's face, Ino exclaimed, "About Dodge Anders!"

The girl twitched and set her magazine down. _So_... this is why all the female ANBU were gathered in her study. They wanted to discuss Dodge. Meh.

Kurenai and Tsunade had the grace to look engrossed in their own readings but Sakura could feel their inquisitive stares when they thought she wasn't looking.

"They really want to know," Tenten sighed. "-what you look for in a man. The Council wishes to see you betrothed but they at least want the other party to be suitable to your tastes. Somehow, they think that will make you more agreeable to their wish."

"So! So!"

Sakura jumped as Ino shoved her face right up against her own. "Tell me now! Haven't we known each other for _years_ Sakura-hime? You can trust me!"

_It's not that I don't trust you Ino..._ Sakura sweatdropped. _ I just don't trust your crazy harebrained schemes..._

Glancing down at her manga, a slow smile spread across her face.

"Ara?" Hinata noticed, certain Sakura was going to keep her lips sealed. "She's going to tell us?"

Tapping the page, Sakura smirked and said, "Hyuuga Natsume."

All the women gaped at their princess.

"NANI?" Ino shrieked. "WHO THE HELL IS THAT?"

"Hinata-chan," Tenten glanced at the younger girl. "Is he related to you?"

Kurenai and Tsunade smirked once they had recovered from their initial shock and tried not to laugh out loud. "Witty witty princess." Tsunade chortled under her breath.

"I don't think so..." Hinata frowned, trying to recall the members of her extensive family. "No... we don't have anyone named Natsume. Nobody in our family history is named Natsume either."

"FOREHEAD!" Ino suddenly brought up the old childhood nickname. "SPILL. THE. BEANS. NOW! WHO IS THIS- THIS- THIS HYUUGA NATSUME?"

She didn't know how long she could hold in her laughter.

"Him." Sakura replied simply, tapping the magazine page again.

Only this time, Tenten, Hinata, and Ino followed her finger to the page.

"HUH?"

"He's not real?"

"AN ANIME PAPER BOY?" Ino shrieked again. "You fell in love with an anime paper boy? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Get over yourself Ino. You asked me what I looked for in a guy and I answered. The guy I fall in love with is going to be exactly like Hyuuga Natsume. End of story."

Because so many of her students read the teen manga series, Kurenai knew more than she cared to admit about the personality of this 'Hyuuga Natsume' character. She covered her mouth in an attempt not to laugh and ruin the moment.

"But why an anime paper boy?" Ino whined. "Why couldn't you have fallen in love with someone normal, and real, and _tangible_? Someone like... like... like..."

"Uchiha Sasuke." Kurenai choked out, unable to keep herself from snickering.

"Exactly!" Ino lit up. "Someone like Sasuke-kun!"

With that statement, Tsunade and Kurenai lost it.

"BWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"EH?" Sakura screamed. "Wha- wha- what?"

"That's an interesting thought..." Tenten said innocently, although the air surrounding her told Sakura her aide had thought of it before.

"But it works!" Ino countered. "Surely _you_ are not blind to the way that boy expresses his feelings towards you. Or are you stupid Forehead?"

"Don't provoke her Ino." Hinata frowned, trying to give some support to Sakura.

Sakura sighed and picked up her magazine. Burying her face behind it, she softly answered, "It doesn't matter what you think Sasuke feels towards me. We have a deal with each other and emotions are certainly not part of the package."

Ino wanted to tear her hair out. "Why are you so insufferable Sakura? Why can't you think about yourself for once?"

.

.

.

Sasuke heard the heavy thud of his combat boots echoing in the stairwell of Heart Palace. He paused at the second floor landing, internally debating with himself to stop at the library and finally read his file.

His conscience won out and Sasuke walked down the hallway.

"WHO IS THIS- THIS- HYUUGA NATSUME?" Sasuke heard Ino shriek as he passed by the closed doors of Sakura's study.

He saw red, his birthright that Itachi never hid coming to the surface, and stopped outside the closed door.

_I'm going to kill him, the fucking bastard. How dare he get so familiar with Sakura... who the fuck is this guy anyways?_

He made a mental note to pull up this Hyuuga's file before he read his own in the library.

"AN ANIME PAPER BOY?" Ino's voice filled his ears again. "YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH AN ANIME PAPER BOY? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

Sasuke's tense shoulders relaxed and he laughed softly to himself as he continued walking to the library.

How typical of Sakura.

.

.

.

Closing her eyes, Sakura breathed in deep, trying not to let Ino's words invade her mind anymore than they already have. She struggled to find her core, that endless source of imagination inside. Taking a deep breath, the girl envisioned a door, starting first with the basics and adding on details.

"You're losing your touch Hime-sama."

Cracking one eye open, the flimsy construct vanished and Sakura softly asked, "Will there ever be a time when you _don't_ sneak up on somebody when you want to talk to them Itachi-nii?"

The Cheshire Cat chuckled humorlessly before taking a seat before her. "I know your secret Sakura."

"Which one?"

Itachi smiled. "Almost all of them. I know about the Tridiuum, the secret weapon you refuse to exercise. I know about your new duty from the council, I know about the silkworm threads, I know about your premonitions, and I know how you feel about my brother."

The girl jerked. "I don't know what you're talking about."

_How the hell did he know all that?_

"I can help you." Itachi suddenly offered. "Exercise the power of Alyss on me."

The offer was tempting, to make the proud Cheshire Cat fall to his knees and bend to her will. She could feel the power within screaming to be let out, begging to be used on this ignorant fool.

Sakura laughed wryly. "I don't think so Itachi-nii. I'll never see you again if I do."

Picking herself up from the floor, Sakura brushed the nonexistent dust off her clothes and turned to leave the room.

"By the way Itachi-nii-" She paused at the door.

The man looked at her.

"Even if you do betray me, know that I'll still love you no matter what." Sakura smiled sadly. "But Sasuke... he'll never understand your reasons. Or accept that it's written in your destiny. He doesn't believe in things like that."

Chuckling softly, Itachi answered. "I know Hime-sama. Unfortunate and difficult sacrifice is required to fulfill our mission. But I am glad to know I'll always retain your love."

_It will be the only thing that keeps me sane when I try to take your life._

.

.

.

"She's dead."

The slithering voice echoed in the dark hall. Rings glared at the speaker, silently daring for the Snake to continue.

"Orochimaru-" Pein snapped. "Bring me the Hatter's head. I allow you to run amuck in the shard with your precious SOUND but you are falling short of my expectations. It's not _that_ difficult to cut off one brat's head, is it not?"

The man flinched. "Forgive me, My Lord."

Pein ignored the apology. "The Hatter is the greatest obstacle to our ultimate goal. Remove him and Alyss will fall to pieces."

"There is still the rest of the ANBU, Mi'Lord. The Rabbit especially."

Rin'negan flitted towards the darkened corner where Konan stood tight-lipped.

"The Rabbit will be easy to sway to our side. After all, we have the answers to all the secrets he's been looking for."

And from the stretching darkness behind the rusted throne, a sinister howl echoed through the room.

"Take the Shukaku and his handlers with you. _He_ will deal with the Rabbit_. _After all, we've cursed them both, haven't we Konan? Our little black sheep..."

His high, cold laughter bounced off the walls.

_Forgive me, child, for I have sinned._

_I have drenched your life in blood..._

… _because you have the mark of the Rabbit._

.

.

.

Tsunade sat across the heir of WONDERLAND, dreading her certain wrath.

"Sakura-hime, the Council wants to pull you and Wonderland out of the Academy."

The seventeen-year-old-princess gave her guardian a withering stare.

"The Council is too involved with my affairs."

The White Queen opened her mouth to automatically defend the advising body of Wonderland, but she held her tongue. Sakura was right. Again.

"Aside from the House of Clubs, the Council has no experience with the dealings of my court because they continually refuse to attend debriefings. I know what they think of me: they think I'm too young, too inexperienced myself to assume my throne. They love to lord their self-importance because they know their ties with the influential are invaluable assets to our mission."

The teen smiled suddenly and went back to reading Hanabi's file for the third time.

"Fine." She conceded after a few moments of silence.

"Fine?" Tsunade was stunned.

"Let the Council pull us out of the Academy. In return-"

The Queen knew there had to be a catch to this madness.

"Let me go with Sasuke and Naruto on their next mission. I cannot be hindered by protocol or propriety- there is something I have to see for myself."

Heads will roll.

.

.

.

He sat down, picked up the document reader, and read.

_The Mad Hatter has a history of appearing only within members of the House of Spades, the Uchiha Clan. He or she is the only character to remain exclusively within a bloodline. Also known as the deadly Ace of Alyss, Hatter is the primary Shield for the Princess and the commander of her ANBU._

"Nothing new there." Sasuke murmured as he turned the virtual page.

_Defining Characteristics:__ Sharingan, incredible speed, battlefield finesse, intimidating, secretive_

_Mark:__ scars on left forearm resulting in the shape of a top hat. A souvenir from Hatter's first encounter with the King of Hearts._

At this, Sasuke stopped and rolled up his sleeve. Sure enough, the white scars he received on that fateful night crisscrossed over one another and formed a top hat in the negative spaces.

The next page caught his eye.

_Cause of Death:__ Decapitation in an attempt to save the Princess from execution. One of the first to die._

The sentence echoed in his mind.

_One of the first to die._

_First to die._

_Die._

He would never let that happen. He has a mission to complete first.

With that in mind, Sasuke closed the file and left the room, hearing the summons.

Uchiha Sasuke... you should have kept reading.

.

.

.

"Is it true Sakura-hime? They're pulling us out of the Academy?" Hinata asked in the weekly debrief.

All heads turned towards her.

"Yes it is Hinata. The Council wishes for us to devote our time to restoration instead of frivolous education." Sakura answered calmly. "I will actively begin my duty as Alyss, beginning with a council with the Caterpillars."

"Shikamaru-"

The ANBU sat up straighter in his chair.

"I will need you and Hinata to tech every mission from now on. We will be sending out decks of soldiers from the House families in addition to the ANBU team. I want them all to come back alive."

The analyst nodded and glanced at his partner to make sure she understood as well.

"Tenten, Neji, Shino-"

They looked at her.

"Ready the chessmen."

Tenten rolled her eyes at the prospect of having to individually fit the elite members of the card soldiers into the automan suits and training them to use the robotic devices. Neji shot her a dangerous and displeased look before answering to Sakura, "Hai Hime-sama."

She suppressed a smile before addressing her next unit. "Kiba, Chouji, Lee- you will prepare Konoha for the breach."

When they heard their assignment, the three junior ANBU froze. Preparing for the capital city of the shard for a breach was never a good sign. It meant things were taking a catastrophic turn.

"Jiraiya, take Gai and Asuma with you to the Forest. Gather intel on _his_ movements- we need as much warning as possible on when he is about to strike. I want a report every day at 1500 hours."

The remaining eight members fidgeted in their seats, waiting for their duty. "The rest of you will be on mission assignments as needed. Your priority is Wonderland and the Palace."

Ino breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't know how much her skills would save her on the battlefield.

"I will take care of the prisoners." Sakura announced coldly. "Sasuke, Naruto-"

Her Shields snapped to attention.

"You know what to do."

.

.

.

Closing his eyes, Sasuke tried to sleep. Lightening filled his vision, pooling in his hands until it gathered enough power to rip a man apart.

_Sasuke!_

He bolted upright in bed. What was that? Was it a vision of a past life or of an event to come? It had to be one of the two, for it felt too real and familiar to _not_ be one.

Some thing tugged at the edge of his senses and he crawled out of bed, making his way down the hall. The cold wooden floor chilled his bare feet and the air conditioning suddenly turned on, making Sasuke wish he had bothered to put a shirt on before walking out.

Pushing open the door at the end of the hall, Sasuke padded across the room and sat at the edge of her bed.

"Stay with me tonight." The soft voice pleaded, her head buried under the covers.

He stroked her soft _sakura_ hair as a pacifying and soothing gesture.

"You'll be fine tonight." Sasuke told her, the search for Dodge weighing heavily on his conscience and actions. "If the Council finds out..."

"Screw the Council." Sakura protested in a shaky voice, head peeping over the edge of her comforter. "I want you beside me _now_. That way, I know nothing will happen to me because you won't _let_ anything happen."

Hesitating a moment longer, Sasuke finally slipped under the covers, giving in to his foolish heart's impulses. Automatically, the girl curled up against him, her warm breath fanning his bare chest.

"I fell into a piano." Sakura mumbled into his chest.

It was the most ludicrous idea he had ever heard.

"What do you mean by that? People don't go crashing into pianos."

"But I didn't just fall into one!" The girl protested. "It was like... I melted into the music. But that couldn't be because I was the one playing the music. How does one become music if one is performing it?"

Sasuke smirked and draped an arm over the Princess's waist. "Use your imagination idiot. Isn't that what you're supposed to do as Alyss?"

The sound of the opening suite door distracted their attention.

"I didn't get the invite to the pajama party." Naruto joked as he strode across the room in quick strides.

"Usurakontachi." Sasuke scoffed. "You bursting in here is proof of one."

The White Rabbit slid under the covers on Sakura's other side without further invitation. Between them, Sakura rolled on her back so she could face both of her two most precious people.

"What brings you to our PJ party Naruto?" She asked.

Naruto tapped his finger on his nose and pursed his lips. "I thought you were calling my name. At first, I thought I was dreaming but I heard you call me again!"

On the other side, Sasuke's obsidian orbs widened when he heard the familiarity of the situation.

"Hn."

"That's weird." Sakura cocked her head in confusion. "I didn't call for you. I didn't call for anyone."

Naruto could see Sasuke's wide-eyed expression over Sakura's head. _Oh... _He wanted to ask his teammate if he heard the Princess call to him too in sleep.

"Did you have a weird dream?" He asked instead.

Excited, Sakura launched into the story of her dream for the second time that night. Unlike Sasuke, who only scoffed at the idea, Naruto laughed and called it "stupid."

"So Sakura-chan-" He asked mischievously. "Did you fall from C9 to A1 on the keyboard in a sweeping cadenza down the keys?"

Punching him in the shoulder, Sakura wailed, "NARUTO! Don't make fun of me!"

.

.

.

When Kakashi opened the door to the Royal Suite to wake Sakura up per usual in the morning, he was surprised to find two other people in bed with her. His visible eye crinkled in amusement and he chuckled softly to himself.

"What will we ever do with you three?" He murmured as he reached down to gently wake up Naruto.

But he paused just short of waking the blonde up and instead reached into one of his many pockets. Pulling out a camera, he took a quick snapshot and admired his photography work on the screen.

"You'll thank me for this later." Kakashi spoke again as he safely stored the device back in his pocket and shook Naruto awake.

The teen groggily fended off his mentor, snuggling deeper into the comforter. "G'way Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto mumbled before he felt himself being pulled out by the ankles and dropped onto the cold wood floor.

"Not fair Kakashi-sensei!" Tackling the older man to the ground, Naruto wrestled with Kakashi, saying "Since you so rudely woke me up, show me what's under your mask!"

Without batting an eyelash, Kakashi reversed their positions, pinning Naruto face down on the ground.

"MKFPHM! KA-MPFTH-KA-GAHPFTW-SHI!"

"You shouldn't struggle so much Naruto-kun. You'll wake up the beast known as Sasuke."

"GET-MPHFTW! OFF-KAFTH! ME-UGHTFH! THEN-MKFP-"

"Hn. You're noisy usurakontachi."

The two froze.

_Oh no_... Kakashi and Naruto both thought in horror, wearing identical expressions of fear on their faces. _We woke up Sasuke!_

Picking up Kakashi's fallen digital camera on the floor, Sasuke turned it on and waited for the device to boot up. "What ridiculous blackmail have you tried to gather against us?"

Pressing 'REVIEW,' his breath caught in his throat when he saw the last photo taken. "Hmph. You should delete that Kakashi." Sasuke finally regained his composure and tossed the camera back to his mentor.

"Why didn't you do it yourself when you had the chance Sasuke-kun?" The older man asked slyly as he turned the device off and pocketed it.

"Tch."

Smiling to himself, Kakashi got off the floor and went back to his usual morning routine. Opening the curtains, he sang, "Ohayo Sakura-chan!"

Sakura groaned but sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Oha-yo Kakashi." She yawned a greeting.

"Look Hime-sama!" Kakashi eagerly produced his camera. "I found a cute scene this morning that I think you should see."

Her bodyguards tensed.

"Sakura-chan, I don't think you should look at it-" Naruto tried to stop her.

Ignoring him, Sakura took the camera and studied the picture in the screen. She smiled softly to herself, the image burned into her memories.

"Very cute Kakashi." Sakura applauded him. "We should make you the Palace photographer."

Turning his head, Kakashi grinned triumphantly at his two proteges. Flashing them a victory sign, he faced Sakura again and said, "Breakfast is ready downstairs. The chef made your favorite this morning- spinach and artichoke soufflé."

"Hai hai. Leave you three so I can get dressed. Send for Ino to help me fix my hair- Tsunade scheduled a public audience today."

Minutes later, when she was done dressing in the flowing white satin corset dress, Sakura couldn't help but think of the picture from this morning while Ino expertly pulled her hair up in a French twist and secured her crown on her head.

"It really was cute." She murmured aloud.

"What was cute?" Ino asked, perplexed.

But the Princess didn't answer, smiling at the memory.

Kakashi caught them in the deepest of sleep, completely relaxed in each other's presence. Naruto faced her, holding her one hand tightly as if he was trying to reassure her that dreams were only dreams. Sasuke lay pressed against her back, his arm still wrapped around her waist and her hand rested on his, their fingers intertwined around each other's.

"Nothing." Sakura finally stood up and brushed the imaginary dust particles off her skirt. "Let's go eat, ne?"

.

.

.

Sakura crouched beside her guards in the darkness, dressed head to toe in the darkest of hues. Her giveaway _sakura_ locks were covered with a wide hood, her face hidden behind a full facemask that hid every revealing feature except for her glowing olivine eyes.

"Stay with me no matter what." Sasuke repeated for what seemed like the millionth time that night.

She rolled her eyes and balanced the sais in her hands. "I know Hatter. You don't have to remind me."

"You shouldn't be on this mission. _We _shouldn't be on this mission." Naruto fretted on her other side. "Why did you choose us? Why not that bastard Sai?"

Ignoring the insult about the March Hare, Sakura simply answered, "There is something I have to see for myself."

"_Go."_ Shikamaru's voice crackled over their com-mics.

And the three crept into the well-known base of the SOUND.

Hiding above in the wide rafters of Orochimaru's strategy room, Naruto dropped a microscopic bug onto the conference table. Seated before his laptop, Shikamaru recorded the live feedback onto his hard drive for later storage onto the one of the many terabytes that made up WONDERLAND's archives.

"Take the Shukaku... what am I supposed to do with that beast?" Orochimaru muttered to his top aide, the Deconstructer, Yakushi Kabuto.

"The Shukaku?" Hinata asked, fingers flying over the keys of her laptop. "What's that?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "No idea."

"I suggest-" A new voice, one decisively female, entered the scene. "You do not insult my brother so casually. He might build you a beautiful coffin of sand and crystallize it for all to see."

"Ne, ne, Temari-nee-chan." A more light-hearted and male voice reprimanded. "You shouldn't scare Orochimaru-san like that. Gaara won't do anything unnecessary."

The names rang a familiar chord in the back of Naruto's memories.

_It can't be_...

"Blood..." A third voice rasped. "Where is his blood? Pein-sama promised me his blood... because his blood is the only thing that will satisfy the raging demon within."

"You'll get your blood." Orochimaru said frostily. "In the meantime, we need to find a way to breach the Palace's defenses. The Rabbit will not leave Alyss's side and Alyss will not leave the Palace in a crucial time like this."

The sound of a giant fan snapping open echoed through the room.

"Oh I don't think so."

The bug caught a glimpse of the mysterious trio's faces. Mahogany eyes widened in shock and his heart stopped cold.

"SHIT!" Shikamaru swore into the mic. "GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE NOW!"

"What?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Because I think the Rabbit's already here."

Somehow defying all logic and laws of physics, Suna no Temari floated on her gigantic fan and rose towards the rafters. Coming face to face with Naruto, she grinned treacherously as she said,

"Hello Naruto."

And the White Rabbit fell.

"_NARUTO!"_

.

.

.

_Can I be your sanctuary?_

_Can I be your wings to fly?_

_'Cause I'm a desperate angel_

_With a need to die_

_And will you be my sanctuary-_

_Hold me close and not let go_

_Shield me from the darkness_

_That swallows up my world?_

"You should stop listening to such morbid music Sakura-chan."

The girl looked up at her mentor. "Go away."

The older man sighed and crouched before his precious student. "They're worried about you."

"Good for them."

"I'm worried about you too Sakura."

"You shouldn't be. I'm _fine_."

Onyx surveyed her closely. "You don't look fine to me." He reached out to pat her on the head, to make sure she was still _there_ in his grasp.

She slapped his hand away. "What you know, what you think you know, and what actually is, are three completely different things. Things aren't always what they seem."

The man froze and let his hand drop to his side. "That's especially true for you Sakura-chan."

They stood in silence for a while. The man looked at the sheet of paper on the desk, recognizing the familiar lyrics and the melody written on the stave above.

"You know what I think?" He said as he picked up the sheet. "I think you're crying out to him when you sing this song. I think that no matter how many times you push him away and deny him, you secretly want him to chase after you forever because you can't forgive yourself for not being able to let him go."

She said nothing.

"You're breaking his heart Sakura-chan."

Snatching back the sheet music, the girl picked up her pencil and resumed working.

"I know."

* * *

Author's note: I didn't actually mean to update but... _Cold_ is on a writing spree as of this moment. I'm on a role with this fic... I can't bring myself to write _Mad World_ right now, even though that work is comprised of the darkest parts of my head and expressed for the whole world to tear apart.

So forgive me if I push that one and _Spiral_ to the side for the time being.

Hyuuga Natsume belongs to Tachibana Higuchi and is one of the main characters for _Gakuen Alice (Alice Academy)_. I was obsessing over GA when I started writing this chapter shortly after the last update (you know... to keep the creativity flowing) and Natsume sharing the same surname as Hinata and Neji was a pun I could not resist throwing in.

I hope you all enjoyed this spontaneous update.

Ja ne-  
Callista Miralni


	7. Off with Her Head

Cold

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer: you know it by heart.

-WARNING: We will be delving into the past. And it's not pretty.-

* * *

The other teen caught him and set him on his feet in what could have been called a gentle manner.

"It's been a long time Naruto." Suna no Kankuro greeted him easily.

Naruto could feel the malice hidden in his light tone.

"You know, I've always wondered how you managed to escape the Cage." Kankuro mused. "Why is it that you were allowed to taste freedom while we had to be tortured?"

The memories he thought he had forgotten from his earliest days came rushing back.

.

.

.

-Thirteen years ago-

-Konoha's Ghetto: Suna no Oshiro-

The leather whip cracked, waking the young boy up from his light doze.

"Get up you fucker." The guard harshly bit out. "It's time for your daily shot."

Sapphire-blue widened fearfully and he cringed in his chains.

"I said: GET THE FUCK UP!"

The leather stung his tender flesh, biting through the papery skin. Immediately, the cold air of the dungeon rushed over his wound and he could feel his skin go numb with shock.

Stumbling down the hall with the disgruntled guard pushing him whenever he thought he was going too slow, the boy arrived at the laboratory and was immediately strapped to a gurney.

"Now, now, Naruto-kun. You know this won't hurt at all." The smooth voice reassured him as the needle's tip glinted in the darkness.

The syringe pushed into his vein and he opened his mouth to let out a silent, wordless scream. His muscles relaxed and his heart beat irregularly with adrenaline.

"How many is that?" A deep voice rumbled.

"Nine Ou-sama. It is the last one for this one- he was unexpectedly difficult to tame."

"Hn. When will his blood deactivate?"

The sound of rustling papers filled Naruto's ears but he could barely move. Then, the answer came.

"When he drinks the Shukaku's blood. They are a pair, those two, Ou-sama. The Kyuubi needs the Shukaku to quiet its bloodthirsty nature. Similarly, the Shukaku needs the Kyuubi."

"Madara-" The King said. "Make sure they do not draw each other's blood then. I will need them in the future."

"They are essential for me to destroy this pathetic world once and for all."

Madara bowed and smirked. "Yes My Lord."

.

.

.

They took him to a different cell this time around.

"Kankuro, Temari—he will be your temporary charge until we find someone to handle him."

The little girl nodded mutely, terrified of the boy's red, cat-like eyes gleaming in the darkness. Beside her, her little brother hid behind her back but across the room, Temari's youngest brother was already picking himself off the floor and making his way to the strange newcomer.

_SLAP!_

Blankly, Naruto started at the jade-eyed boy before raising his own hand and slapping him back.

Gaara smiled a dangerous grin and softly said, "He does not bleed."

"Be kind to him Gaara." Madara smiled. "After all, he will be the most important person to you. He is your cure and he is yours. Without the other, neither of you can exist."

The boy's eyes widened and looked back at Naruto as the other boy's eyes shifted to their natural sapphire color.

"Hai Red King."

.

.

.

Two years had passed since Naruto and Gaara were paired together. The Red King often forced them to battle other prisoners and sometimes, each other, forever observing their reactions and noting them on his cursed clipboard.

Today, however, everything changed.

The next blow sent Gaara flying through the air. The sound of his skull cracking rang through the room but Naruto didn't stop there. Before Gaara had time to recover and let his injuries heal, Naruto was already picking him up by the collar and throwing him up in the air. Gravity pulled the flow of blood downwards, spraying Naruto in the face as he bared his fangs.

"Why don't you fight back!" The seven-year-old screamed, his heart horrified by what his body had done.

_I'm sorry..._

_Please, please..._

_Forgive me.._

Gaara let out a feral cry, reversed his moment and kicked Naruto across the room. The boy passed out instantly upon contact.

"I'm not weak." Gaara snapped. "_You're_ the weak one. You, who dream of the sun, are _weak_."

.

.

.

He thought he was on fire.

"What should we-"

_Temari-nee?_

"No, don't. They'll-"

_Kankuro?_

And the lonely scream that broke his heart.

_Gaara._

They nervously watched as he burned.

_Higherfasterhotter-_

Burn.

"_WHY?"_

The drop of amber blood circulating through his veins answered his desperate plea.

.

.

.

"I'M GOING TO KILL THE FUCKING BASTARD!"

The animalistic roar tore through their eardrums.

_Where did our brother—cute, adorable, baby brother—learn such foul language?_ Temari instantly wondered.

"Nee-chan..." Kankuro's dark eyes widened. "The sand-"

"Shit!" The nine-year-old girl swore. Pulling at her brother's hand, she frantically reached for the knob of their cage. "Run, run, run!"

But the door would not budge.

_And they were buried alive, crystallized in the sand._

"NARUTO!"

.

.

.

-Present-

"You know..." Kankuro paused thoughtfully. "How _did_ you escape in the first place? After the Red King managed to subdue Gaara and make the sand withdraw, _you_ were nowhere to be found."

Naruto glared at the older teen. "That's none of your business."

The well-placed kick to his sternum sent him skidding backwards on the table.

"I think it is my business."

Dizzy, he could hear the sound of unwrapping bandages. They fell to the floor one by one.

Like the pieces of his sanity.

"Because _Kyuubi_-" Kankuro snarled. "_This is all your fucking fault."_

And the sand rose.

_Build me your castle of sand Gaara..._

_And I'll be the waves that crush it to the earth._

"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed as she watched the sand bury him. The girl prepared to jump off the rafter but Sasuke held her back. Struggling to keep her still, the teen slapped his hand over her mouth to silence her screams. Cold, saline tears dripped down her cheeks, staining his gloves and her mask.

"We cannot risk it! They're looking for you!" Sasuke hissed in her ear. "It's a miracle that Temari girl didn't report our presence. We need to retreat and form a-"

"No!" Sakura wrenched herself free of Sasuke's viselike hold. "We're not leaving without him! He'll never come home if we do!"

"_The first hand is dealt."_ Hinata's shaky voice rang in their ears. _"With the March Hare and the Caterpillar leading the battalion_."

"_The second hand will storm in five..."_ Shikamaru frantically typed commands on his laptop, bringing every satellite orbiting the vacuum beyond under his control.

.

.

.

_-_Past-

Stumbling in the back alleyways of Suna no Oshiro, the seven-year old boy met a trash can and fell backwards. The sand in his eyes stung, the lime dust from the rock walls of their cage coating every inch of his body.

He ran.

Ran.

Ran.

Ran.

And ran.

He never stopped running.

But he didn't care—he was _free_.

Cured of the bloodlust.

Cured of his insanity.

It wasn't over though. Not even close.

Not until that stormy night.

_Alyss in Wonderland_.

Can I be your sanctuary?

.

.

.

-Present-

Behind his mask, Sai easily cut down the first of the bodyguards. It was almost too easy, as if Fate was taunting them.

"Find the Princess!" Neji shouted to their hand. "You will not rest until you find her and her Shields! Or you are dead! Know that you will die an honorable death if it comes to that!"

His mouth set in a determined line, Sai murmured, "I will not leave without them."

He didn't have to shout to make himself heard.

"FOR THE PRINCESS!" The card soldiers charged.

.

.

.

…

_no._

…

.

.

.

"_SASU-KEEEEE!"_

That was all the Mad Hatter needed before he swung down from the rafters and let his kunai fly.

_Bloody hell._

It was gorgeous—in a sickening way. The graceful arc of blood, the smooth trajectory of Kabuto's head flying through the air, _this_ was where Sasuke was allowed to drown his sorrows.

"Hello Sasuke-kun."

He froze at the sound of that slithering voice.

_Orochimaru_.

And then, Sasuke charged.

.

.

.

That's okay.

Because I know it was never meant to be.

Rabbits and Princesses don't go together.

But I will be there for all eternity.

I am the voice that will send you to your grave—

—or send you to where you belong.

I AM—

the white rabbit

_shiro no usagi_

i'mlatei'mlateforaveryimportantdate

—your funeral.

.

.

.

Among the bloodshed, the cloudy jade green eyes, so unlike the Princess's own, gleamed in anticipation.

_YOUR HEAD WILL BE MINE._

Don't go too far Gaara.

Because once you wake up—

_THUD!_

—_your eyes will see what you have truly become._

"NARUTO!"

_You're a monster_.

"**NARUTO!"**

.

.

.

Yamanaka Ino was dressing Tenten's wounds from the sudden attack their squad suffered en route to the Palace.

"Ouch!" The older girl cried when Ino tied the bandage too tight.

"Sorry Tenten." Ino apologized as she loosened the knot.

Tenten frowned but said nothing about Ino's lack of concentration. "Hey, is Sakura-hime back yet?"

The younger girl's fingers slipped on the last loop. Tenten's frown grew deeper.

"You'd think she'd be back from a simple recon mission already." Ino commented. _Where is that Forehead girl? Why isn't she back yet? It's been 72 hours..._

"I heard you and Lee received a mission while out training the chessmen." The blonde girl quickly changed the subject, filling up a glass of water.

"Yeah." Tenten trailed off, drinking the offered glass of water. "It was so weird. Itachi-nii suddenly dropped by and asked us to take his mission for him since we were passing the area on our way home. Then he took his precious Akatsuki and left."

It was Ino's turn to frown. "It must have been important, whatever he had to do, for Itachi-nii to suddenly disobey Alyss's orders. What was it anyways? Your mission?"

Digging into her pocket, Tenten produced a jagged, reflective object roughly the size of a flattened orange. The smokey, translucent shades of gray shifted in the bright lights.

"It's..." Ino stretched out her hand to touch it.

"Don't." The Eaglet warned, stowing the shard back in her pocekt. "It's dangerous to be caught in it's spell. No one can look at it directly for too long, especially if it's the first time you've seen it."

"But what is it?"

"A shard. But of what, I have no idea. All I know is that Wonderland has been collecting the fragments since the dawn of time." Tenten set her glass on the bedside table.

"But I do know this-"

Ino leaned forward eagerly.

"Whenever the senior ANBU disappear into the basement, I know that they're assembling whatever the hell this shard is a part of."

Then, the glass of water on the table exploded.

.

.

.

He thought he was on fire.

"Kankuro, we have to stop! This is not part of the deal-"

_Temari-nee?_

"-can't do anything Nee-san. Anything we do will just make things wors-"

_Kankuro-nii?_

And the pained scream that broke his heart.

_Naruto._

They paid no attention as he burned.

_Higherfasterhotter-_

Burn.

"_WHY?"_

The drop of amber blood circulating through his veins answered his desperate plea.

.

.

.

what have you done now?

.

.

.

This was it—Kakashi held Tenten's bounty aloft.

Only one more to go.

"Her powers... they're becoming more stable. It won't be long now." Asuma noted, puffing on his cigarette.

_No it won't be_. Kakashi thought. _Only one more fragment and two more conditions_.

Time is not the only enemy they have.

"Ano sa... where'd Itachi-kun go? I thought he was supposed to bring this fragment back, not Tenten." Gai questioned.

"Oh that." Asuma took another drag. "He called and said he had some business to take care of and asked Tenten's team to get it for him since it was of utmost importance that we get this ASAP."

Itachi's sudden disappearance mystified Kakashi. Then it hit him.

"What's the date?"

"Eh?" Gai's lips stretched into a blinding grin. "Does my eternal rival have no notion of time? I believe this is a point for me!"

Ignoring the man's lapse into immaturity, Asuma answered, "It's October 15th."

His visible eye widened.

_Oh shit._

.

.

.

you are the uchiha princess.

The Uchiha Princess.

His only princess.

.

.

.

Itachi closed his eyes and traced the two names on the gravestone with his bare fingertips.

_Uchiha Fugaku._

_Uchiha Mikoto._

"I'm sorry."

He bowed his head.

"I'm sorry for being so weak."

"I'm sorry for being so vulnerable."

"I'm sorry for allowing him take control of my spirit."

"I'm sorry for being _his_ pawn."

It's in his nature.

Written into his blood.

_Forgive me Sasuke._

I AM

thecheshirecat

The traitor who destroyed everything we loved.

Except for her.

_Know that I'll still love you no matter what._

Sakura.

.

.

.

_off with her head!_

.

.

.

Her knuckles were turning white.

She's so helpless.

Like a doll on the shelf.

Like the apple of his eye.

"_NARUTO!"_

A strong hand gripped her shoulder.

"Dormouse." The Mock Turtle looked at her with pity. "You can't leave. He needs you here."

She's no princess.

Just a timid mouse.

But he's her perfect prince.

Sinking back down into her chair, Hinata closed her eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. When she opened them, pearl orbs were set with renewed determination.

"I understand."

If Naruto—and the others—were to come home, they needed _her_ with her head intact.

.

.

.

"You cut off Tayuya's head."

Sasuke stiffened at the mention of the fuschia haired assassin. "She talks too much." The teen retorted, parrying his sword with Orochimaru's. The blade gleamed wickedly under the harsh light.

AZRAEL.

The Angel of Death.

"You turned down your ambition. Kukuku Sasuke-kun, Alyss has made you soft."

The curse of his blood manifested.

"Don't you want to know who killed them?"

"I know who did! Pein!" Sasuke struck with his katana.

Pretty blade.

Christened in her blood.

"The King of Hearts would not personally eliminate the House of Spades, even if they are his biggest obstacle. He has his sights set on bigger fish."

"Don't you think—Dodge Anders?"

The name caught Sasuke off guard.

And then he knew.

"You're a fucking liar." Sasuke snapped. "I saw them! I saw the corpses of the decks dealt that night! I SAW THEM YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

"No." Orochimaru laughed in glee. "You saw what you wanted to see. Your eyes—beautiful, bleeding Sharingan eyes—create the most wondrous illusions."

.

.

.

She could feel his resolve weakening.

Closing her eyes, Alyss prayed.

_Give me the strength to walk away._

"Doors."

.

.

.

Why did I have to fail now?

Dizzy with pain, Naruto struggled to sit up. The only problem was—

_The hell is that?_

—he can't see anything but white light.

And a door.

It was a simple door, a wooden door bound with cast iron straps and set with a simple glass window covered in iron spirals.

A beautiful door in its simplicity.

Naruto got up from the floor, ignoring his bleeding shoulder. Reaching out for the handle, he almost turned the knob but something stopped him.

_Do you really want to go beyond?_

_Once you fall, you won't come back._

_No one's ever come back._

_They sit all day and let their tears fall into the bottomless lake below._

Suddenly, he wasn't in the light anymore.

Naruto knew this place, knew it _too_ well. He was on the edges of the Palace grounds, standing atop a body of water known as the Pool of Tears.

Impossible.

The door still lay before him, floating in the center of this vast lake.

_He_ was standing on the glass smooth liquid.

Looking down at his feet, Naruto expected to see a reflection of the sky but what he saw instead horrified him.

Sasuke, his head severed from his body, Sakura, her face streaked with bloody tears, and—

_NO! Anyone but her! Not her! _

—Hinata.

.

.

.

The floor below Shikamaru and Hinata began to shake.

"What the hell is going on"" Kurenai screamed at Asuma, toppling over the last few stairs.

The other man gripped the table in an attempt to stay upright. "Kakashi! Gai!"

But their two comrades were too pre-occupied with gaping at their clandestine work.

"We are missing the final piece." Gai frowned. "It's too early for them to merge."

And suddenly Kakashi knew.

"Alyss."

.

.

.

"You can't kill him~" Orochimaru sang. "You can't kill him because _she_ protects him!"

"The best part of this danse macabre..."

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH."

"You can't kill _her."_

.

.

.

When she woke up the next morning and sat down before her piano, her fingers moved faster than her brain could comprehend.

_A symphony composed itself from her tears._

Hidden behind the closed doors, the three most important men in her life listened in the shadows. The blond teen turned to the masked man and opened his mouth to say something but—

_It was missing its final movement._

—he closed it at the sight of his best friend and teammate slouched against the wall.

_This was her requiem._

And the boy knew the end was near.

"Sakura."

_don't walk away._

You'll die if you play that final chord.

* * *

Author's Note-

Thank you to all my readers and reviewers. I'm sorry I haven't been able to respond to your reviews as of late with this semester pwning my soul but know that I love all your thoughts and comments, all your tears and praises.

If you want to read more while waiting for the next chapter, visit my LiveJournal for the occasional teaser. There should be a link in my profile.

Ja ne-  
Callista Miralni


	8. The Mad Tea Party

Cold

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer:... you know. Already.

Happy New Year!

I apologize: I said I would finish _Heist_ by the end of February but I've been busy revamping _Spiral_ and then I watched _Alice in Wonderland, _and then I re-read Criminally Insane [did the author re-write it? It's totally different than what I remember] and it all went to hell from there. :\

And THEN—the summer came. I rarely update during the summer. Lord knows I've tried but... things never work out the way I want them to.

The fall semester was one of the most difficult terms to date. At first, I didn't update because of writer's block but at the end of October... _there was no friggen' time._ I HATE YOU COLLEGE.

_Cold_ got its first flame—YAY! Actually, I was pretty pissed off about it. But I re-read the comment, re-read the fic, and realized that the stupid site took out all my scene breaks and made it super confusing [even more than I intentionally made it]. So to all my new readers... I am deeply sorry for the confusion from Chapter Four onwards. They have been corrected with new scene markers.

* * *

Chapter Eight: The Mad Tea Party

.

.

.

_don't bother piecing me back together_

_if he's not here, then there is no point_

_I'm strong enough to hold on today but_

_I'm weak because I can't let go

* * *

_

.

.

.

Eyes wide, spinning bloody red-

(_every man's fucking nightmare_)

-Sasuke gaped at his princess.

(_He wasn't afraid to own up to it_)

"Is it true?"

She flinched and stepped closer. Lifting her arm, Sakura breathed,

"Sasuke-"

"Don't." His eyes blazed with anger and pushed her aside. "Don't... bother."

Hurt, Sakura withdrew her arm and a single tear fell from her eye. "I'm sorry."

The door before Naruto softly clicked and it noiselessly swung open.

"What are you-"

"I'm sorry Sasuke."

Tackling Orochimaru to the ground, princess and general tumbled through the door. Lurching to his senses as he saw them go by in the nightmare he found himself in, Naruto screamed, "Sakura!" and made chase after them but-

-the door slammed shut in his face and vanished from sight.

* * *

.

.

.

"_Sakura!"_

"_You're mad!"_

_Chuckle._

"_Ah but Princess-"_

_A shiver went down her spine._

"_-the best people usually are."

* * *

_

.

.

.

Walking through her greenhouse, Tsunade couldn't help but notice how the very earth seemed to quake with sorrow. At the end of the glass house, her special habitat for silkworm caterpillars had cracked. A few bugs—seven, to be precise—had begun to spin their cocoons.

"My God." The White Queen breathed, her face pale.

It's too soon.

* * *

.

.

.

Sai and Neji burst into the meeting room.

"Shit." One of the card soldiers crashed into the March Hare.

The entire room was painted crimson. Kabuto's decapitated body was sprawled across the conference table. On the floor, Temari and Kankuro cradled Gaara's body, the teen still clutching his head and writhing in pain. Naruto was on his feet in a mound of sand, staring at the wall, while Sasuke clutched Azrael in a tight grip.

"Where is Alyss?"

With a strangled yell, Sasuke hurled Azrael through the air. The blade hummed as it vibrated in the wall.

Naruto continued to blankly stare despite the fact that Azrael had sheared off a few strands of his golden hair.

Sharing a stunned look, Sai and Neji knew the answer to their own question.

Sakura was missing.

* * *

.

.

.

"_Ne, ne, Itachi-nii—"_

"_Hai, Sakura-hime?"_

_Olivine glittered happily. He couldn't help but smile back._

"_Tell me a story."_

_Beside her, the head of raven gave him a curious look._

"_Have you heard the Jabberwocky?"_

"_You mean Kakashi-nii?"_

_She was so innocent..._

"_No. Not him. The poem."_

_She sat up in her bed eagerly._

"_Tell me!"

* * *

_

.

.

.

Pein smiled at the traitor.

"It's time. We've waited too long for this moment."

He could feel his heart bleed as his knees bent and swore loyalty.

"Hai—_King of Hearts._"

* * *

.

.

.

Do you know why they call him the King of Hearts?

He cuts off their heads.

_Heads because I admire their nerve._

But for Alyss, he has something special planned for her.

He wants her heart.

And he's taken every Alyss's heart.

_The head as the symbol of the Crown._

_The heart as the symbol of the people._

With the people and Crown, he is invincible.

Or so he thinks.

* * *

.

.

.

The moment they stepped foot in Heart Palace, she was there to greet them.

"You're safe." Hinata said, eyeing the card soldiers, Neji, Sai, Sasuke, and Naruto critically for injuries.

When he heard her voice, Naruto rushed to her and gathered Hinata in his arms.

"You're _alive_." He whispered into her hair as he held her tightly.

Concerned over her best friend's well-being, Hinata asked, "Are you... okay?"

Bringing her petite form closer, Naruto buried his head into her shoulder and wept.

"I thought you were dead."

Lavender eyes widening in surprise, Hinata relaxed into Naruto's embrace, rubbing soothing circles into his back.

"I'm not going anywhere." She told him.

Gritting his teeth at the heartfelt scene, Sasuke sheathed Azrael and stormed his way past the two.

"Sasuke-" Sai moved to follow but Neji held him back, shaking his head.

"Leave him be." The Caterpillar warned. "He has a lot to take in."

* * *

.

.

.

"There is nothing you could have done."

Kakashi surveyed his former pupil critically. Sasuke was a mess, even if he didn't seem like it. Everyone knew better than to approach him in his volatile state.

Everyone except for Sakura, Kakashi and Naruto, who did so anyways.

"That's a lie." His former apprentice answered flatly, turning away from him to gaze at the glittering lake.

"I'm the Mad Hatter. The Mad _fucking_ Hatter. I'm the best of the ANBU, Alyss's trusted guard. There are so many things I _could_ have done to stop her, but I didn't."

"You're in shock."

"I'm not!"

"Then what are you?" Kakashi retorted calmly.

"Where is my brother?" Sasuke asked instead.

"You know where he is."

Without another word, Sasuke turned around and left the Pool.

* * *

_._

_._

_._

_don't bother drying my tears at night_

_I can't forgive myself for taking his life_

_a duty done with the coldest intentions_

_a sacrifice made of scarred love

* * *

_

.

.

.

Sputtering, Sakura surfaced from the water. Her feet hit something solid and the princess climbed upwards. She dragged herself out from the lake and collapsed on the grassy bank, exhausted.

"Forehead!" A familiar voice called. "What are you doing here? I thought your team put you on house arrest!"

Yamanaka Ino bounced to her side, but there was something... _different_ about the way her childhood friend looked.

"Ino... your eyes..."

"Hm?" The blonde teen cocked her head curiously. "What about them?"

Sakura hesitated. "They don't shine they way they used to."

Ino laughed. "You're weird. And that's not all that's weird—where the hell did you pull those clothes from? Sasuke's closet? Honestly Sakura, I thought you never wanted to see him again after what he did to you."

Alyss felt her heart stop.

"What... he did to me?"

"Did you get sudden amnesia from your forbidden swim too?" Ino humored her. "Don't you remember—we were thirteen... taking our first Chuunin Exam..."

"No." Sakura suddenly uttered. "It started long before that."

Ino stared at her, fear clouding her dull eyes.

"I need to get you home."

* * *

.

.

.

Kiba ran through the woods at breakneck speed. Behind him, Neji ran close at his heels, watching their surroundings with his vigilant eyes.

"WONDERLAND sure is a strange thing." He suddenly said aloud.

The Caterpillar snorted. "No... really? How long did it take you to catch onto that?"

His hand strayed to the soft pouch clipped onto his belt.

It's been two weeks since Sakura disappeared. Shortly after, Sasuke too vanished into the depths of the lab where the senior ANBU usually gathered.

Tsunade, acting as regent in place of Sakura, ordered that all Wonderlanders remain in the Palace grounds. The Hyuugas took up their usual place in the southern wing of the building but Neji and Hinata preferred to stay in the ANBU assigned rooms located in the heart of the Palace.

Once upon a time, Neji recalled, the Western wing was filled with people with dark hair, dark eyes, and skin as pale as the moon.

The Uchiha Clan—the House of Spades.

There is nothing left of that deck except for two scarred heirs.

Neji was six when the Massacre occurred. Before that, he had only met Itachi once and Sasuke twice. The Uchiha heirs were composed individuals, dignified and refined.

That part of them hadn't changed but their cool composure is a cracking mask.

In one night, the Spades were no more. Alyss lost her most formidable assets in war. The Chessmen—mechanized suits of armor—were best wielded by their Uchiha creators. Even the most brilliant soldiers among the ranks of the Hearts and Clubs could not compare to the easy efforts of the Spades's card soldiers.

By contrast, the Hyuugas were the Princess's diplomats. Every business transaction—legal or otherwise—within the shard involved the Hyuugas in one way or another.

Uchihas fought with swords; Hyuugas with words.

"Hey Neji." Kiba suddenly said. "Why isn't the House of Diamonds here at the Palace?"

The older teen stiffened as the Palace came into view.

"They're traitors."

* * *

.

.

.

In this lifetime, she was nothing but a soulless doll.

"Here." Hatake Kakashi handed her a towel.

Sakura reached for it and gave him a small smile.

"Thank you."

Kakashi jumped and looked back at her. Her olivine eyes shone with sincerity, determination written on her face.

He hadn't seen a lively expression—proof that she _lived_ and _breathed_ and _fought—_on her face in ten years.

"Sakura-chan..."

"Hm?" Her voice was muffled by the terry cloth.

"You're different."

She stopped drying her hair.

"So are you."

Kakashi chuckled and fondly ruffled her now-dry locks. "I haven't changed." He told her sadly.

"No, you have." Sakura insisted. "You just don't know it right now because _you're not yet whole_."

The older man froze. "You're sick." Kakashi drew her into his arms. "Sick and delusional—Tsunade-sama said. You'll feel things, see things, hear things that aren't there. We have to protect you from anyone who tries to harm you-"

His embrace was suffocating.

"Kakashi-"

"Anyone who tries to kill you-"

Sakura tried to wiggle free but he held on tighter.

"Kakashi, stop saying that. You're scaring me-"

"But most of all," he continued.

"_We have to protect you from yourself."_

Her breath caught.

From herself?

* * *

.

.

.

His eyes ran through the words, page after page.

_PROJECT: WONDERLAND_

"What is this?" The Mad Hatter finally put down the last page of the immense document. The worn paper curled at the edges, proof of its importance to their organization.

"You read it." Kakashi nodded in approval.

"I did." Sasuke grunted. "But that doesn't mean I get it. Why did this..." He searched through the pages. "-_Sarutobi Hiruzen_ feel compelled to build the program? Why the _Alice in Wonderland_ theme? Why do the shards matter?"

His mentor didn't say anything for the longest time.

"Did it ever felt like a part of you was missing? No matter how many battles you won, how many girls you fell in love with, how many times you've written your name, there's always something missing."

Sasuke scowled. "No. I have Alyss; I don't need anything else."

Kakashi's face crinkled into a knowing smile.

"Maybe you just don't feel it yet."

"Stop speaking in riddles."

"If I were you, Sasuke," Kakashi lightly commented. "I'd be figuring out where the hell the Princess is. You're the only member of the junior ANBU who knows about the Project; you alone understand the importance of her return."

"That's just it!" Sasuke shouted. "I came to you for help and you send me a novel of a project report! How the fuck is that supposed to help me?"

Kurenai looked up at them sharply from her workstation.

"Think Sasuke," Kakashi responded calmly to his outburst. "How did the Mad Hatter return to Wonderland? More importantly..."

Onyx widened in realization.

"How did he _get out?_"

* * *

.

.

.

She aimlessly wandered down the hallways of the house searching for her room.

It was a large house, one that had been built to impress, not to be a cosy home. It reminded the Princess of Heart Palace when all its occupants, save for herself, were not contained within its walls.

"Sakura-chan! You're... not in your room. Or in the music room."

She turned around.

"Naruto."

Her blonde bodyguard gave her a feeble, unsure smile.

"Your eyes..." Sakura whispered, stunned.

"Ara?" Naruto cocked his head to the side. "My eyes?"

Horrified, Sakura ran down the hallway, away from him and that empty pale blue. Where was the shine? The spark of life? Where was the glow of imagination? It was missing in Ino, in Kakashi, and now in the most imaginative person she knew.

_What the fuck is wrong with this place?_

"Hey wait!" Naruto chased after her.

They came to a dead end at the end of the hall.

"Geez, you run pretty fast for someone who hasn't done any extreme workouts in ten years!" Naruto laughed at his own lame joke.

Sakura stiffened. Again with the ten year reminder.

"Naruto," she asked seriously. "What happened ten years ago?"

He stopped chortling and grew serious.

"Everyone thinks it happened later than it did, when we were thirteen during our first Chuunin Exam." Naruto said softly. "But that was only the moment when _everyone_ knew about it. It was... an accident. A horrible, horrible accident." He gave her a bittersweet smile. "You love people too much, you know that Sakura-chan? When everyone else had left us for dead, abandoned us to the cruelty of the real world, you reached out and offered us a reason to live. You gave us a lifeline to cling onto. But now..."

She was tired of hearing anecdotes, of people dodging her questions. "Naruto, I need you to tell me everything. _Now._"

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there! You're so impatient." The teen laughed. "I miss that about you... the old you..."

Sakura waited for him to continue.

"It all started on the day you insisted on visiting an onsen for Golden Week..."

* * *

_._

_._

_._

_break my shattered heart_

_there's nothing left for you to take_

_break my scattered heart_

_I'm waiting for the day

* * *

_

.

.

.

Sasuke sat in the darkness of his bedroom, stretched out on his bed. Beside him lay a digital file reader displaying a file labeled 'MAD HATTER' and a picture frame.

How could Sasuke have missed it? There was another part to the Hatter report, one detailing the relationships between the Hatter and the ANBU throughout the centuries. Some things Sasuke already knew—for example, his partnership with the White Rabbit and his irritnce with the Caterpillar. The report went as far back as-

"-the fracture." Sasuke realized, recalling a passage from the PROJECT: WONDERLAND files.

He picked up the reader and opened up his digital copy of top secret file.

-PROJECT: WONDERLAND-

_as complied by Dr. Sarutobi Hiruzen_

ASST BY:

Rin'negan Pein

Hakushi Konan

Senju Hirashima

Haruno Satome

Uchiha Madara

Hyuuga Hiro

Namikaze Minato

One name in particular stood out.

_Rin'negan Pein._

_Rin'negan Pein._

_RIN'NEGAN PEIN._

It became all too clear.

"Traitors."

Dawn filtered through the curtains of his room. The Mad Hatter sat up and climbed out of bed to start the day. He didn't sleep much that night, too restless to still his body and clear his mind. At some point, Sasuke mused, he must have blacked out. The moon was still high in the sky the last time he checked.

The sound of the file reader dropping to the floor startled him and Sasuke bent down to retrieve it. The words _PROJECT: WONDERLAND_ winked back at him as the screen lit up at his touch. His stomach turned as Sasuke remembered what he pieced together earlier that morning.

Should he tell someone? Kakashi perhaps. What were the chances that the Jabberwocky already knew? Pretty high.

Suddenly, Sasuke wished Sakura was here. If anyone would listen, it would be her.

He shook his head and pulled out his clothes from the dresser.

Time to get some proof.

* * *

.

.

.

"Naruto."

The White Rabbit jumped a mile high out of his seat before sheepishly facing his partner. Across from him, Hinata looked faintly amused by the entire display.

"Sasuke, don't scare me like that! I almost had a heart attack..." Naruto groaned, his hand over his racing heart.

"You're a stupid rabbit." The teen sneered. "Rabbits are weak, easily frightened, and a symbol of a pathetic, idealistic moron. Suits you, _dobe._"

"Oh yeah?" The other boy exclaimed hotly. "Rabbits are going to take over the world because they have one hell of a sex drive!"

Hinata turned bright red. "Naruto-kun, I don't think you should be saying that aloud..."

"So by your reasoning, _Teme,_" Naruto continued undeterred. "If I'm a rabbit, that means I'm incredibly awesome in bed! I am the perfect lover, the image of manly perfection! OHHH! SUCK ON THAT."

Sasuke's jaw twitched before his hand shot out and whacked Naruto on the crown of his head. "You're disgusting. And you made Hinata faint."

"What? Oh shit, Hinata-chan! Don't die on me! I need you!" Shaking his unconscious best friend by the shoulders, Naruto continued to yell, "What am I going to do without your homemade ramen?"

"Stop shaking her and bring her to her room to rest. I need to talk to you."

Naruto frowned. "This is more important. Hinata's health is on the line."

"I'm pretty sure a fainted girl—who is _fine, _by the way—is more important than the Princess she swears loyalty to." Sasuke said sarcastically.

The blonde paused.

"Let me bring her to her room."

* * *

.

.

.

Sasuke waited outside in the hallway for Naruto to come out of Hinata's room. The blond shut the door behind him and glanced at his partner. Sasuke turned on heel, walking down the hallway.

"Do you have any information?" Naruto asked in a low voice.

"Some. Not all of it."

Naruto frowned and crossed his arms angrily over his chest. "I don't get it. People don't just _vanish_ into thin air. They have to go somewhere."

"Exactly." Sasuke nodded. "You can't turn something into nothing. Or the other way around. It's a basic principle of physics: everything must be conserved."

"But you know that's not true." Naruto hummed. "_She_ can do it, can't she?"

The Hatter paused. How did he know?

"That's why Sakura is Alyss. Only Alyss can break that law. Whoever has that power is invincible."

"How do you know that?" Sasuke asked sharply. "That's classified information."

"Ara? It's true?"

Looking both ways down the hall, Sasuke pulled Naruto into the nearest empty room and locked the door.

"Look," Sasuke scowled. "It's true. What I _don't_ get is how you managed to come up with it."

The other teen shrugged. "It wasn't that difficult to piece together after reading _LGW._ Besides, isn't that what everyone knows, that we are an important shard of the universe? Not just any shard but the most important one... the imagination..."

Sasuke took a seat in Sai's desk chair. "That's right." He exhaled. "That is Alyss's power. But there's something else too. Naruto, what happened to you after the sand tried to tear you apart?"

Flinching, Naruto turned away from Sasuke.

"Naruto, if we're ever going to bring Sakura back, I need to know."

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to reply. "There was a door floating in the middle of the Pool. I could walk on the water, like some kind of ninja."

"And?" Sasuke pressed.

"Bodies." Whispering, Naruto stared at him. Sasuke shuddered at the haunted glaze in Naruto's eyes. "So many corpses, familiar faces, littering the bottom... The door opened and then I saw-"

"You saw?"

"Sakura-chan. And Orochimaru. They came out of nowhere and tumbled through the open door." Naruto took a moment to compose himself. "Sasuke, what was that all about?"

Sasuke leaned forward.

"What if I told you-" His onyx eyes were bright with hope. "I know how to bring Sakura back?"

Naruto's head shot up.

"Tell me."

* * *

.

.

.

"Where is she?" Naruto demanded as he burst into Sakura's study where the Regent had temporarily taken up residence.

Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at the White Rabbit warily. "Who wants to know?" Jiraiya hedged.

"I do." Sasuke scowled, entering behind his partner. "Where is she? Why can't we find her anywhere?"

Pursing pink lips, Tsunade gestured for the two to take a seat. Grudgingly, they sat.

"Have you read _The Looking Glass Wars?_" The White Queen asked.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Only a million times. That children's book is like the _Bible_ around this madhouse."

Tsunade's jaw rippled but she held back the tongue lashing building in her throat.

"Go get Kakashi." Tsunade ordered Jiraiya. "His brats will want to hear what exactly he does in the basement."

"Why me?" He protested.

"_Go."_ She repeated firmly. Sulking, Jiraiya left.

Addressing the other two, Tsunade explained, "Sarutobi Hiruzen was a particular fan of the series. He read it to his granddaughters often."

At the mention of the PROJECT: WONDERLAND's creator name, Sasuke sat up straighter in his chair. "Sarutobi Hiruzen, you say?"

Naruto glanced at the other teen. "Teme, what the hell are you two talking about?"

"Do you know how the shard came about?" Sasuke asked instead.

The blonde shook his head. "Does anybody?"

The study door opened and Jiraiya and Kakashi walked in. They silently took a seat on the couch.

"It started with a dream..."

* * *

.

.

.

Her fingers ghosted over the lid of the glossy black piano. Hesitating for a moment, Sakura pulled out the bench and sat down. She knew how to play the instrument—it was part of her studies as Wonderland's princess. Sakura hated performing; she'd rather listen to Sasuke play.

Her heart ached at the thought of the Mad Hatter, her beloved friend. The anger on his face was forever etched in her mind. Would Sasuke ever understand?

Would he ever forgive her?

Biting her lip to stop the tears from falling, Sakura opened the lid and began to play. The melody was unfamiliar to her but she let her fingers dance over the keys.

It was summer—warm, lazy days crowned by nights spent curled up together under the stars. This was the first passionate kiss of the summer fling, the break-up, and those bittersweet memories. In her mind, the music was crimson—passion and sorrow in one beautiful shade.

At the end of the song, a soft voice broke her stupor. Uchiha Sasuke took a seat beside her on the bench.

"I never thought I'd hear you play that again."

She was lost for words. Sasuke never looked so broken.

"What happened to us?"

His eyes widened for a fraction of a second at her query before he reached out and crushed her against him.

"I don't care," Sasuke's voice was low in her ear. "How many times we have to go through this sick cycle, how many times you push me away, how many _years_ I have to watch you fall to pieces because of _me_ and my _stupidity_, but Sakura..."

Her breath caught in her throat and suddenly, she couldn't think.

"... I will _never_ leave you."

* * *

_._

.

.

_I'm falling..._

_

* * *

_DAMN IT ALL TO HELL AND BACK.

The site took out my scene markers. _Again._ I want to prevent another flame so I put both horizontal breaks _and_ my regular markers in. It looks silly but RAWR!

Once again, a thousand (and more) apologizes for the delay! I'm working on the next chapter as we speak so wait for it!

I can't thank my readers enough for their patience and support. You've made me smile with your positive comments and encouragement. Honestly, if it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't be working as hard to finish this.

Ja ne-  
Callista Miralni


	9. A Long Tale

Cold

Callista Miralni

disclaimer: Hell, I don't even own the inspiration.

I'm on FIRE with this fic! The muse came back with a vengeance. Now, if it would work for every other project I'm working on, that would be FANTASTIC.

**WARNING WARNING: LONG STORIES AND FLASHBACKS INTERMITTENT

* * *

**

Chapter Nine: A Long Tale

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"_You insisted on visiting an onsen for Golden Week..."_

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.

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* * *

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.

-Ten years ago-  
-Konohagakure no Sato-  
-The real world-

She was the sun.

At least, Uzumaki Naruto thought she was.

With her bright petal pink locks and those wide olivine eyes that glittered happily in the light, Haruno Sakura was the sun personified.

"Naruto-kun!" She sang out as she ran towards him, arms open in a hug.

The sad little boy stood up from a crouch, his face brightening upon seeing the girl. "Sakura-chan!"

They collided, tumbling to the grass while laughing madly. "Ano sa! Ano sa! Let's go on vacation!"

Naruto stopped laughing. "Sakura-chan... won't your parents mind if you're with _us?_"

The girl pouted. "I don't care what they think. They don't like the fact I enrolled in the Academy either."

"You only enrolled because Sasuke and I are there."

Her olivine eyes grew dark. "Oh yeah? And who managed to catch up in six months?"

"True, true!" Naruto laughed. "You're too smart Sakura-chan."

Sakura flushed. "No—not really. It's only thanks to Sasuke-kun I could do something like that. After all, he said," she scrunched her face up and dropped her voice in imitation of the Uchiha. "_I'm tired of hanging around weaklings waiting for you to get out of class."_

The two burst into giggles.

"_Usurakontachi—stop being so noisy."_ Naruto grunted, striking a Sasuke-esque pose.

Sakura laughed even harder.

"Oh, I got one." The girl said mischievously. She cleared her throat. _"Sakura, you're annoying."_

"That was a terrible imitation of me."

At the sound of the new voice, Naruto and Sakura stopped laughing. "Sasuke-kun!" She squealed and hugged him tightly. "Where have you been?"

The Uchiha boy returned the hug and gruffly answered, "Hokage-sama's office."

"Eh?" She cocked her head in curiosity. "Why were you there?"

A dark look passed over his face before he gave her a small smile, distracting Sakura from her question. "It's... nothing important. Let's go eat lunch."

.

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* * *

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"_Before we decided to go, we had our usual Saturday lunch after classes. That was where you gave us the idea. Kakashi was with us—he was Sasuke's guardian, and later became ours too."_

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* * *

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.

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"Yo."

"Kakashi-san!"

The masked man picked up the little girl who jumped into his arms and offered her a crinkled smile. "And how is the Princess today?"

"Mou," Sakura pouted. "I'm not a princess. I'm a ninja who can protect herself and her teammates!"

Kakashi smiled again. "That's right—you have to protect your teammates. One day, when the three of you are older, you'll be placed together in a team. You have to watch each other's backs. After all-"

"Those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash." Sakura recited solemnly. "I will _never_ leave anyone behind. That's a promise of a lifetime!"

Setting her on her feet, Kakashi patted her head. "Good girl."

.

.

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* * *

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"_The three of us made a promise at that time—to watch each other's backs, to take care of one another. At the same time, unknown to you and me, a storm was brewing between Sasuke and the Hokage..."_

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* * *

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.

.

After spending the entire lunch convincing Sasuke and Kakashi that a trip out of town for Golden Week was a great idea, Sakura hummed in satisfaction as she walked home with Naruto.

She could always get her way if she presented her argument well enough.

At the same time, Kakashi walked with Sasuke back to the boy's apartment. "So, how did your appointment with Hokage-sama go?" The man asked.

The Uchiha boy scowled. "He doesn't want me to leave the village. Paranoid of Kumo-nin who swore to take revenge on a dead clan."

Kakashi frowned. "Sasuke, why didn't you say anything earlier? Sakura would've understood if you told her the reasons why you can't leave. Why did you agree to the trip?"

He scowled even more. "Do you know what it's like disappointing her?" Sasuke asked pointedly. "It's horrible. After everything she's done for me, do you think I can shoot her dreams down like that?"

"It's nice to know you care."

Glaring, Sasuke set his lips into thin line. He marched up the stairs to his apartment and slammed the door shut behind him. Kakashi eyed the door ruefully, rubbing the back of his head.

"Maa, maa. He's such a difficult child." The Copy-nin chuckled. "But I guess that's why I like him..."

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* * *

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"_We left for a tourist village an hour from Konoha. Kakashi booked rooms for us in a small onsen. The village became our playground by day and at night, we soaked in the hot springs. On the third—and last—night of our trip, we were ambushed."_

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* * *

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"This is great!" Sakura stretched her arms above her head. "I told you this was a great idea. Ne, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, do you think we can eat that fruit shaved ice before we go home?"

No one answered her back. Naruto's snores were barely muffled by his comforter. Giggling at the sight of the boy so deeply asleep, Sakura tiptoed out their room and made her way to the spring where she knew she could find Sasuke.

Just as she thought, Sasuke was at the springs but he wasn't bathing. The Uchiha boy sat on a folded towel, his bare feet immersed in the warm water. Sakura copied him and sat beside him.

"What are you thinking about?" The little girl asked, resting her head against Sasuke's shoulder.

"Whether it was a good idea to come here or not."

"What?" Sakura jerked. "But we are having so much fun! Why would you say something like that?"

Tears welled up in her big olivine eyes.

"Ah... that's not what I meant, Sakura."

"Explain then!" She hiccuped.

_SNAP!_

Sasuke froze and put a hand over her mouth. "Shh... do you hear that?"

The girl sniffed before wiping her tears away and calming down.

_SNAP!_

"Yeah... what is that?"

The two Academy students stood up and listened more carefully. Sasuke heard the quiet crunch of grass being crushed underfoot; Sakura heard their uneven breaths.

"_Kagami: WONDERLAND no arisu._"

"Duck!" Sakura shrieked, pushing Sasuke into the water and diving in after him. But she was too slow—Sasuke surfaced moments later, just in time to watch her scream. The girl lost control of her muscles as the curse hit her, falling into the hot spring with an ungraceful splash.

"Sakura?" He called, expecting her to come up coughing.

Bubbles appeared a few feet in front of him.

"Sakura?"

Panicking, Sasuke dove under the water again as a rain of kunai came over the bamboo fence. He spotted the unconscious girl at the bottom of the spring. Taking hold of her arms, Sasuke pulled her to the surface with him.

There was no way Sasuke could defend both of them and drag Sakura away from the continuos rain of weaponry and curses headed their way. Desperately, Sasuke searched for a way to escape. His eyes spotted the wooden wash tub.

_That's it!_

He pushed Sakura's unconscious form towards the shallow end of the spring, setting her upright so he could put her on his back. Staggering under the excess weight, Sasuke got out of the water and made a run for the tub. He stopped to catch his breath before making a break for the hallway door. Senbon followed him, scoring shallow cuts on his red skin.

"After him! The Uchiha brat's getting away! Don't forget—Pein-sama wants him alive!"

Sasuke didn't know who the hell this Pein was but he didn't care. He reached their room out of breath, struggling to open the door without dropping his friend.

"Sasuke? What happened to you?" Kakashi looked up from his book. "What's wrong with Sakura?"

Sliding her off his back and onto her futon, Sasuke took in deep gulps of air to catch his breath. "Ambushed... in... the springs. She got hit... by some kind of jutsu."

Alarmed, Kakashi set his book down and checked Sakura's vitals. Sasuke watched him anxiously.

"Wake up Naruto and pack our bags," Kakashi told him sharply. "Once he's up, give Naruto my wallet and have him pay our bill. We're leaving tonight."

Wide-eyed, Sasuke did as he was told.

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* * *

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"_Hokage-sama wasn't happy that Sasuke left but he never punished him. ANBU teams were deployed to find Baa-chan. You were comatose in the hospital for weeks. Finally, after two months of waiting, a team found Baa-chan and you woke up."_

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* * *

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Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

Everything was white.

Yellow invaded her vision, coming in fast from her right side. A loud voice rang in her ears.

"You're awake!"

Her shoulder was wet.

"Na..."

The boy continued to sob.

"... ruto."

He looked up at her with watery sapphire eyes.

"You're awake."

Naruto repeated.

Olivine blinked.

"Awake?"

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* * *

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"_We were told your parents disowned you while you were asleep. You didn't care. You couldn't care. There wasn't much of you left._

_We moved in together into an empty house in the old Uchiha district. We spent weeks repairing the pieces; it was like a bonding project. Each of us got our own room on the second floor—damn those Uchihas for being filthy rich and building big houses like this! For six years, we thought you were going to make a full recovery. The rate at which you regained pieces of yourself was incredible."_

_._

_._

_.

* * *

_

_._

_._

_._

_She paused. "What did I do?"_

_._

_._

_.

* * *

_

_._

_._

_._

Music filled the air.

Sasuke opened the door to his—no, _their—_house and stood still. He let the music wash over him. Softly shutting the door behind him, Sasuke tiptoed his way into the music room and stood in the doorway, watching.

Sakura looked so concentrated in her task. Sasuke counted the measures (_there were thirty-two_) before she opened her mouth to sing.

"Can you see me falling through the sky?"

He saw her body arc into the water.

It was blue like the sky above.

"Torn, bloody, and broken—missing a wing to fly?"

Sasuke's arms felt heavy.

"Can you hear me screaming in agony?"

He couldn't take it anymore. The lyrics were too beautiful, the melody too sweet, the song...

_it's a curse!_

"Sakura," Sasuke made his presence known.

She stopped playing. A bright smile filled her face.

"Sasuke-kun!"

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* * *

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"_There were many forms of therapy Baa-chan discovered would work. We tried them all, bizarre as they were. You had notebooks upon notebooks of poetry and prose, rolls of film depicting the sky, the trees, the birds flying free in the sky. You played chess and poker, war and shogi. At one point, there was a room of turpentine and acrylics, fine bamboo brushes gliding across canvas. You dirtied your hands with clay, burnt your fingers baking cakes, and had bruise after bruise from our regular ninja training._

_After a year and a half of experimenting, we finally found the key to your recovery. It was so simple—how did we _not_ think of it before?_

_Music._

_Music is everything to you, Sakura-chan. Before you enrolled at the Academy, don't you remember? You were supposed to study at the Royal Academy in the Capital. You were born to be a great musician._

_When your fingers touched the keys and you opened your mouth to sing, I swear, Sakura-chan, you were the only one who could make Kakashi-sensei cry."_

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* * *

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No one could tell she was cursed.

That was how they preferred it. No one would stare at her in awe, the same way the passerby gaped as they saw Kakashi walking down the street with his nose buried in his porn. No one would look at her in pity, the same way they shook their heads and blessed the dead whenever they saw Sasuke shopping for the groceries. No one would glance at her in disgust, the same way villagers scorned Naruto as he cheerfully ran to school minding his own business.

To them, Haruno Sakura was a normal human being who got tangled with the wrong crowd.

People adored her, despite her estrangement from the esteemed Haruno family. Shopkeepers often gave her a free item on their shopping trips. Sakura got free shiitake mushrooms in her Ichiraku bowls, much to Naruto's displeasure. People waved to her and urged her to take care of herself in a house full of men.

Sakura always thanked them with a smile.

Only the three of them—Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto—could tell it never reached her eyes.

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* * *

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"_We passed our Academy exams with flying colors. To our surprise, we were assigned the same squad with Kakashi as our jounin mentor. You and I didn't think much of it but Sasuke... Sasuke knew the reason why..."_

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* * *

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"Hokage-sama, Uchiha Sasuke here to see you."

The Sandaime bowed his head. "Send him in."

The Genin entered the room and stood stiffly before his desk. "Ah, Sasuke, good to see you. Take a seat."

Sasuke sat.

Sarutobi took a sip of his tea. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"No thanks. I'm here to talk."

"About?"

Onyx flashed. "I'm sure you already know, Hokage-sama. What else could it be about?"

Chuckling, Sarutobi answered, "It could have been about your brother. It could have been about Sakura. With you, I'm never too sure."

Sasuke tensed at the mention of Uchiha Itachi. "Do you know anything about Itachi?"

"No," the Hokage sighed. "It's like he vanished into thin air. But, a word of caution, Sasuke: if you were to know the truth behind his actions, would you still kill him?"

"There is no truth other than Itachi's words," Sasuke replied hotly.

Smiling sadly, Sarutobi murmured, "I was afraid you'd say that. Sasuke, what matters more to you—revenge-"

The Uchiha boy rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to yell _YES!_ but the Hokage continued speaking.

"-or Haruno Sakura?"

The retort died and Sasuke was stunned.

"I'll let you think about it," Sarutobi smiled. "In the meantime, what did you come to talk to me about?"

"I figured out why you put us in the same team."

He chuckled. "You four were a good combination from the start. Why would I separate a good team?"

Sasuke scoffed. "So it has nothing to do with Sakura's condition and Project: WONDERLAND?"

The Hokage sputtered over his tea.

"How did you know about that?" Sarutobi asked shakily. "That was a project gone wrong... years of wasted effort..."

Scowling, Sasuke got up from his chair and turned to leave. "You know," the boy paused at the door. "You should be more careful about choosing your collaborators. Information has a way of being leaked. Abandoned projects complete themselves in the hands of another. Sakura's _curse_," he spat the word out. "Is the product of your research."

The door slammed shut.

Shaking his head, the Hokage said, "That's where you're wrong, Sasuke," he shook his head ruefully. "Project: WONDERLAND wasn't supposed to be a curse."

"It was a way for people like you and me to _dream_."

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* * *

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"_We spent a year doing missions together. On our first C-rank, Sasuke almost died. You cried so much. But... we got so much out of it. Sasuke got the Sharingan, you said you'd become stronger, Kakashi became a little more involved in our lives. Me, well, that's when I first learned about the demon inside... the Kyuubi._

_Kakashi nominated us to take the Chuunin Exams. Sasuke and I were so excited, even if the bastard didn't act like it. You... were more apprehensive. We didn't know until later, but you started having dreams."_

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* * *

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In her dream, it was always the same thing.

A beautiful boy, about four years old, would run up to her and say:

"_Don't open Pandora's Box_."

Then the famed chest would appear at her feet, the key in her hand.

Slowly, she approached it, coming closer-

And closer-

_And closer_.

The key flew out of her hand and inserted into the lock, twisting open by itself.

Then the boy would look at her with sad eyes.

"_I told you so."_

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* * *

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_She looked at him pointedly. "It's not unusual to have dreams when you sleep at night, Naruto."_

"_For you, it was," he insisted. "Ever since you were hit by that jutsu, you _never_ dreamed. Your mom used to say that all your music, the stuff you wrote yourself, was the living expression of what you dreamt at night. Since that time, you hadn't written anything new. Every thing you produced lacked that thing that made it unique and beautiful."_

"_So what's the big deal about me starting to dream?"_

"_I don't quite get it myself," he confessed. "But somehow, your dreams act as a signal to whoever created the damn jutsu. Like a homing beacon. There was something in your dream that triggered the call."_

"_What was it?"_

_Pause._

"_I don't know. You wouldn't tell us."_

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* * *

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Fear.

The Forest at night was frightening. Knowing that there were not only animals, but _people_, out to kill them all, Sakura pinched herself continually to _stay the hell awake._

Nestled inside a cave formed by the twisted tree roots, Sakura checked her teammates—her best friends—one more time. Naruto's breathing had evened out; his fever dropped and his skin was returning to its normal tanned complexion. Sakura thought she was going to have a heart attack as she witnessed her best friend being tossed around like a rag doll among the trees.

Beside him, Sasuke tossed and turned. His face was pinched in pain and his skin was clammy. Quickly, Sakura replaced the now-dry towel on his forehead with a wet one. She held his hand and prayed for him to wake up soon.

Olivine found their way to the strange black marks on his neck. The bite wounds (_like those of a snake)_ some strange shinobi named Orochimaru gave him finally scabbed over.

"Well, well, well, look at what we have here."

Three contestants with a music note on their heads leered at her through the roots.

"Hey Kin!" The one with hair like Kakashi-sensei's said. "This one's got the mark!"

The girl laughed. "_If_ he survives. Kudos to him if he doesn't die."

"Guys, remember our mission. The mark is the Spy's objective. We have a different one." The third one wrapped in bandages said.

"Aww, shaddup Dosu. You're always ruining the fun," Zaku complained. "Do your stupid test then."

Sakura pulled a kunai out from her holster and stepped out into the open. "I don't know what you people want, but stay away from us," she said in what she hoped was a strong voice.

"This one's got an attitude," Kin narrowed her eyes. "She pisses me off."

Dosu formed hand signs so fast, Sakura couldn't keep up with him. Her blood turned to ice as the shinobi spoke the words:

"_Kagami: arisu ka?"_

She started screaming.

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* * *

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"_What happened then?"_

"_I don't know. Sasuke woke up in the middle of your fight. You were alright, but your long hair was gone, chopped off when you were taken captive by Kin. I woke up seeing both of you on the ground, clutching each other like your lives depended on it. Something happened to both of you, but you would never say._

_We got through the second round of the exams okay. There were so many people who passed that they had to have preliminaries to eliminate some. Sasuke and I advanced—I didn't have any injuries and Sasuke refused to leave until he saw your match, despite his obvious struggles to stay conscious. You were pitted against Ino."_

"_The Pig? Why?"_

"_Why not? There was a bit of tension between the two of you. You guys were best friends before she found out you were living with us. Ino had the biggest crush on Sasuke."_

"_She got jealous."_

"_Exactly! I don't get girls sometimes."_

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* * *

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"I'm not going to go easy on you, Forehead Girl," Yamanaka Ino announced.

Sakura smirked. "Wouldn't have it any other way, Ino-pig."

It was an evenly matched fight. Ino had clan techniques but Sakura made up for it with strategy. The two started verbally arguing in the middle of the fight about _everything—_their friendship's abrupt end, who was worthy of Sasuke's attention, which one was stronger in the end. The audience sweatdropped, wondering if the arena was an appropriate place to host such a private discussion.

"Oh yeah?" Ino exclaimed heatedly. "If chopping off your long hair—hair you only grew out because _Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair—_was a sign of strength, then so be it."

Sakura faltered as the kunai slid through Ino's blond locks.

"What the hell are you doing, Pig?" Sakura shrieked in dismay. "I didn't keep my hair long because of _Sasuke-kun_; I did it because _you_ told me we were _both_ growing out our hair! Besides, Sasuke-kun doesn't even pay attention to people's hair!"

"Ara?" Ino blinked. "I said that?"

She fell over. "_Yes!_" Sakura cried in exasperation.

Growing pink in the face, Ino huffed and threw the cut hair towards her opponent. "What-" She accentuated with a thrown shuriken. "A-" Sakura landed a backflip. "Useless-" Ino dodged a kunai. "Waste-" They met in the middle, Ino punching, Sakura narrowly blocking. "Of time!"

The girls sprang apart.

"I'm getting tired of playing this game," Ino said seriously.

Sakura took a few deep breaths. "Me too."

They faced each other and prepared for the next—and possibly final—move.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

"Kawarimi no Jutsu!"

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* * *

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"_It was a clever trap. At the last seal, Ino screwed up the sign and trapped you with her chakra-infused hair. The two of you had been running around in it for a while; even with the Kawarimi, there were still bits of her hair on you. The final move was the real Shintenshin but something happened..."_

"_What?"_

"_The jutsu took hold successfully but something else went wrong. God, I'll never forget it..."_

"_Naruto-"_

_He took a shuddering breath, taking a moment to recompose his thoughts. "Your body lifted off the ground and arched backwards midair. You were screaming non-stop and blood poured from the shallow wounds inflicted during the match. Your eyes weren't green anymore—they were the darkest shade of black._

_Sakura-chan, do you know what it was like? You were begging for us to helping, crying to Sasuke to make it go away. I never knew until then just how close the two of you were._

_We rushed you to the hospital. Teams were sent for Baa-chan again, who left after you had shown signs of full recovery. During the training month, I was forced to travel away from the village with Ero-sennin. Sasuke and Kakashi stayed behind for several reasons: the bastard was in the hospital recuperating, they had nowhere else to train really, and they wanted to watch over you in case you woke up._

_By this time, everyone knew the truth: you were cursed and Ino's jutsu sent it into overdrive. When Baa-chan arrived..."_

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* * *

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"How is she?" Kakashi asked in a low voice.

The woman's glowing green hands dropped to her sides. "Not well," Senjuu Tsunade shook her head. "Any progress she's made these last six years has been cruelly torn apart. I don't know if she'll ever be the same again."

"Can she still be a shinobi? It's all she has left."

Tsunade sighed. "I wouldn't advise it. Until she wakes up, I won't know more about her condition. As of right now, the girl who leaves this hospital bed may not be the same one who entered it. The Shintenshin no Jutsu is a powerful mind control technique. Whatever curse Sakura is under is something related explicitly to her mind—an outside interference would cause the curse to work twice as hard."

"What?" Kakashi was confused. "I don't think I understand you."

Searching for a way to explain what was happening to his student without delving into the technical, Tsunade finally explained, "It's like getting a flu shot. You get a shot of the strain to protect yourself from the flu. Your body displays minor symptoms but it passes quickly and your immune system remembers what the flu strain looks like, storing special cells to kill the infection quickly before it takes over your body. With me so far?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Okay," Tsunade took a breath. "Now, let's say you somehow managed to catch the flu, but it's an entirely _different_ strain. Your body thinks its the same strain as the one it has special killer cells for and sends those out to fight the infection. When it doesn't work, your immune system sends out even _more_ killer cells and you're out of commission for weeks trying to recover from your body turning against you."

He turned cold.

"So you're saying..."

Tsunade nodded grimly.

"The only real enemy is Sakura herself."

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* * *

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"_It was time for the third round of the Chuunin exams. I won against Neji easy but Sasuke had a hell of a fight against Gaara."_

"_He fought Gaara?"_

_Naruto nodded excitedly. "Yeah! Sasuke was awesome. He did this cool move Kakashi-sensei taught him, the Chi-"_

"_Chidori, right?"_

"_How'd you know?" He was astonished. "Anyways," Naruto continued quickly. "We never knew who won that match because Suna and Oto ambushed us. Orochimaru fought against the Sandaime and killed him. Sasuke and I were sent after the escaping Gaara._

_The invasion was stopped with Gaara's defeat. But you hadn't woken up. Baa-chan was chosen as the Sandaime's replacement._

_I found out about Sasuke's cursed seal, the one Orochimaru gave him. It... changed him. We fought constantly during his mood swings, mostly about you..._

_One day, the farguments got so bad, we ran out onto the hospital roof intending to fight. Screaming, yelling, jutsu after jutsu, punch after punch... every accusation thrown about. I'm surprised no one noticed earlier._

_Despite the fact that you were bedridden, you chased after us to the roof and intervened."_

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* * *

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He cast the genjutsu a second too late.

"STOP IT!"

A familiar voice screamed.

His temper cooled off immediately and Sasuke woke up out of his furious daze. Across the rooftop from him, Naruto's sapphire eyes widened in disbelief.

"NO!" His best friend screamed. "Stop, Sakura, _stop fucking running!"_

But it was too late. The illusion was cast and Sakura froze in her tracks. Her eyes glazed over and her body swayed with the wind. She lost her balance and pitched sideways, still trapped in Sasuke's illusion.

The Uchiha caught her in his arms. "Kai," he released the technique, his voice shaky.

Naruto cautiously made his way to them. "Sasuke," he asked desperately. "What did you do?"

He felt like crying.

"I showed her greatest fear."

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* * *

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"_My greatest fear?"_

_Naruto shook his head. "Sasuke never told me," the teen whispered. "All I know is that from that day on, things were never the same between you two again._

_Remember Orochimaru—the one who cursed Sasuke? One night, while we were all asleep, he sent one of his teams—the Sound Four, they were called—to persuade him to join Otokagure. They promised him power to kill Itachi, his brother who murdered his family. Kakashi was coming in from a late meeting at the time and heard the exchange. He told Sasuke not to go, reminding him about you and how much you needed him._

_I guess there was another reason besides revenge that Sasuke wanted go: one of the members told him that Orochimaru knew how to reverse your curse._"

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* * *

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He packed his bags and stole out of the house.

Walking down the cobblestone paths of Konoha, Sasuke fought with himself. Should he stay? Should he go? Would leaving this place of sunshine and hope be worth the closure he craved?

A messenger arrived at the house earlier that morning bearing a scroll addressed to him. In it, Sasuke found in the late Sandaime's handwriting:

_Who matters more—Uchiha Itachi or Haruno Sakura?_

It was followed by a combination and a vault key.

Sasuke didn't bother with the combination. It was probably the code to the Uchiha vault. Sasuke had a copy of the code in his father's will; the Sandaime didn't need to give it to him again. If anything, the vault key was a solid bribe for Sasuke to stay. Leaving would forfeit his right to enter the village and access the Uchiha treasures stored within.

He clenched his fist. There was too much going on. He needed to clear his head.

Turning on the wide cobblestone paths towards the village gates, Sasuke had just passed the Academy when he stopped in his tracks. A familiar figure stood up from one of the benches and fixed him with an empty stare.

"You're leaving," Sakura said quietly.

He didn't know what to say. "Aa."

"I wondered if it would ever come down to this," she chuckled. "Our years together don't mean much to you, do they, Sasuke-kun? _Nothing_ matters when it's put beside Itachi-nii."

"Don't talk about my brother like you know him," Sasuke hissed. "You have no idea what he-"

"I love you."

Onyx widened in shock and Sasuke stopped his tirade. He wasn't expecting to hear those three words from _Sakura_ of all people.

"I love you," Sakura repeated, a little stronger this time. "With my entire heart. I love Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, my parents, but _you—_you're special. I can't stop thinking about you, wondering if you're going to run off at any moment when I'm asleep. The only reason I was able to regain so much of myself was because you were always there when I woke up screaming. _You're_ my heart, Uchiha Sasuke. As long as I have you, I don't need anything else."

It hurt to breathe. This _girl—_so out of touch with her own heart and soul—says she loves him. She doesn't even know what love is.

"I can't continue living if you're not there beside me," her gaze dropped to the ground. "No one will be around to stop me from picking up that knife and killing myself."

Sasuke brushed past her and continued to walk out the gates.

One hundred steps later, she called back, "If you leave, I'll scream. I'll yell to the entire world that I love you so everyone will know what you mean to me. I don't care if they scorn me and hate me—I'll do it. Just don't leave me, Sasuke. _Don't leave me alone!_"

Sasuke was behind her in a heartbeat. Her breath caught in surprise; she hadn't seen him move.

"You don't love me," Sasuke forced the words out of his mouth. "You're just a broken doll who thinks she knows what love is. You're nothing but an empty shell, a beautiful marionette on display."

Tears burned behind her eyes and Sakura covered her mouth to muffle her sobs. Why did he have to say it like that? She already knew it but to _hear_ it—especially from _Sasuke, _the one who held her hand, gave her hugs and kisses, and wiped her tears away when she realized how much of herself she had lost—was heartbreaking.

"Sasuke..."

"But thank you anyways."

_This was her greatest fear._

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* * *

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_Sakura froze, her hands over her open mouth. "What did he mean by that? Why would he say something so cruel and terrible to me?"_

"_I don't know," Naruto shook his head. "I heard the story from Sasuke later. The morning guards found you on their rounds. An alarm was raised and a search team organized. I insisted on being included, even though it was hard to leave you behind. You collapsed hours after we found you and slipped into another coma."_

"_Coma?"_

"_I shouldn't call it that," Naruto pursed his lips. "It was more like... well, I guess, a nightmare. One of those nightmares where no matter how hard you try, you can never wake yourself up to escape it. Baa-chan figured that you were in this catatonic state because Sasuke left but..."_

"_But..."_

_Naruto chuckled. "That bastard. Always trying to show off, especially for you."_

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* * *

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They split up to cover more ground.

It was Naruto who found him, using pure intuition as his guide. At the edge of Hi no Kuni's border, his best friend stood on the lake's surface, thinking.

"SASU-KEEEE!" Naruto yelled, his fist ready to punch.

To his surprise, his hand collided with Sasuke's cheek. Naruto was sure the Uchiha would have made the effort to dodge a direct hit.

Sasuke got up and spat the blood out from his mouth. He barely regained his balance when Naruto came at him again.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

There were thousands of copies of his best friend. Attacks came from everywhere. Sasuke did nothing but defend his vital organs.

"Why'd you leave?" Naruto screamed. "Did you think that would accomplish anything? Was leaving your family behind worth the power you wanted?"

"My family's dead," Sasuke wheezed out.

Another barrage of attacks came at him.

"We're your family!" The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki shrieked. "You're my brother, Kakashi-sensei's...well, he's not dad material, more like a favorite uncle, and Sakura-chan..."

Sasuke's heart clenched at the mention of the pink-haired girl.

"You love Sakura-chan more than anyone else."

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* * *

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"_You know what that bastard said to me?" Naruto said._

"_What?"_

_He cleared his throat and spoke in Sasuke's tenor._

"_Do you usually attack people who go on camping trips to clear their heads?"_

_Sakura gaped. _

"_He went CAMPING?"_

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* * *

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Kakashi cleaned out the refrigerator. There wasn't much to do with Sasuke missing, Naruto searching (for Sasuke), and Sakura in the hospital (because of Sasuke).

He wrinkled his nose at a rotted tomato. Pinching the brown stem, Kakashi dropped it into the the trash can.

"That kid... he hoards so much tomatoes and never eats them all..." The Copy-Nin sighed.

Taking a break, Kakashi drank a glass of water and picked up _Icha Icha Tactics._ Nose still in his book, Kakashi set about clearing the countertops of clutter when his eye caught a glimpse of Sasuke's familiar handwriting at the edge of the page. Setting _Tactics_ down, Kakashi picked up the paper, thinking it was one of Sasuke's scribbled notes over one of the many strategy books he read.

It wasn't.

After reading it, Kakashi had the grace to blush.

"Oops."

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* * *

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"_Sasuke left a note? And none of you saw it until later?"_

"_Yeah... Baa-chan was furious. Yelled at the guards for jumping to conclusions. Yelled at Sasuke for not leaving it in a more obvious spot. Yelled at me and Kakashi-sensei for jumping to conclusions. Hell, if you were awake, I'm sure she would have yelled at you too for jumping to conclusions."_

_Sakura shook her head. "Then what?"_

_Exhaling, he answered, "Life went on. Konoha suffered a siege a few months later by Oto. Orochimaru wasn't going to give Sasuke up easily. Baa-chan managed to drive him off with Ero-sennin's help._

_The siege was terrible. Everyone at one point had been captured or sent to negotiate releases. I can still hear people waking up at night, screaming their heads off at the horrors they witnessed in the Oto camps. Sometimes, when you run through the Forest, you can still see the charred clearings where they set up camp. Nothing lives there anymore. Nobody was the same after it. We're all haunted by ghosts._

_You were the only one who was spared from seeing any of Orochimaru's cruelty. That didn't mean you were any less damaged though._

_In the middle of Oto's siege, you woke up from your coma."_

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* * *

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Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

It was white.

Hospital.

The warmth enveloping her hand became hotter.

"I thought I lost you."

Jerking, Sakura reached for the nearest object-

_(a vase of flowers left by Team 8)_

-and hurled it at him.

"I HATE YOU!" She screamed. "I HATE YOU I HATE YOU IHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOU."

Stoic, Sasuke reached out and pinned her flailing arms to her sides. "Keep still. You shouldn't be moving around this much or you'll give yourself a headache."

"Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?" Sakura spat, her olivine eyes hateful.

Smiling crookedly, Sasuke sat down on the bed beside her and crushed her in his arms.

"Don't you remember?" He whispered hotly in her ear. "I'm your _heart_."

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* * *

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"_Baa-chan had you continue music therapy. At the same time, she wouldn't let you work as a ninja anymore. You were so upset that you refused to speak to any of us for weeks._

_Eventually, you left the hospital and moved back in with us. After a while, you would speak to Kakashi; he became your primary caretaker. Then you started speaking to me. A new kid named Sai was placed on our team as your replacement—he often painted while you played the piano._

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The music sounded all wrong.

Her fingers stumbled over the keys, a single phrase repeating in her empty mind.

_"Imagination is locked away in WONDERLAND."_

Wonderland.

_Alice in Wonderland_ and all related reading material were books. Fiction. Products of the mind in an age...

In what age?

Sakura cried out in her frustration. Why wouldn't her muse return to her? It had been years since _Sanctuary_, her last masterpiece, was completed.

Ten.

Whole.

_Fucking._

Years.

But the music would not return to her lifeless fingertips.

_Catatonic coma state._

_Heaven and Hell destroyed in my wake._

_My fragile sanity begins to break,_

_While my sanctuary's not too far away._

When will the doors of imagination fly open again?

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* * *

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_The only person you refused to see is Sasuke. You still won't see him. Once, when he insisted on staying by your side, you threw a book at his head and told him..."_

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"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT."

Naruto was shocked. As an elite Jounin—almost ANBU—Naruto thought his best friend would have been able to dodge something like a book thrown by a teenage girl who hadn't trained in two years.

Sasuke stood by her bed, nursing a bruise from where the corner of _Alice in Wonderland_ smacked him on the forehead.

"Sakura-chan, be reasonable. You know what happened to you isn't Sasuke's fault. It's nobody's fault," Naruto tried to reason with her.

"Of course it's his fault!" The girl shrieked, chucking _Through the Looking Glass_ at Sasuke next.

Sai had the sense to catch the book before it hit his teammate.

"If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be cursed in the first place! If I hadn't protected him, then _he_ would be in this bed—not me! I can't do anything anymore. I can't write. I can't sing. I can't play the piano. I can't go back to my parents. I can't be a shinobi. I can't feel. I can't breathe. I can't _live._ This is all Sasuke's fault and he knows it."

"Sakura-san..." Sai opened his mouth to speak.

"Leave me alone." Sakura flopped on her stomach and buried herself under the covers. "Just go away."

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* * *

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"_We continued on with our lives. Ino often came by to watch you whenever we were gone on missions. You spent your days hiding in the music room, lost in your own thoughts. We would approach you as much as possible but you continued to hold us at arm's length."_

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_For seven times  
I saw the same dark grim way to die  
For seven lives  
I know my sanctuary's been there every time_

Sasuke gripped her shoulder gently, an almost comfortingly, at least for him. The girl abruptly stopped playing the piano.

"When are you going to stop running away?"

She shook him off. "Leave me alone," she snarled. "I don't need your fucking sympathy. Quit playing the pity act—it doesn't suit you."

Silence. Then-

"You're breaking my heart," the boy murmured softly.

Sakura spun around, jumped out of her chair and slapped him hard on the face.

SMACK!

"You already _broke_ my heart."

Dark eyes swirling with mixed emotions, he lowered his lids and backed away. Turning around, Sasuke left the room and shut the door, leaving her breathing heavily in her anger. Marching back to her place, she resumed the piece where she left off.

_Can I be your sanctuary?  
Can I be your wings to fly?  
_'_Cause I'm a desperate angel with a need to die  
And will you be my sanctuary?  
Hold me close and not let go  
Even as my glass world shatters, my sanctuary remains forever_

Behind the closed door, Sasuke slid down the wall, buried his head in his arms and wept for everything he had never known and lost.

"Sakura."

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* * *

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"_It was so hard, watching you fall to pieces. You would never let us help you."_

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* * *

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_._

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_._

Naruto stared at his dejected best friend.

"She turned you away again."

It was a statement, not a question.

Placing an ear against the music room door, Naruto noted, "She changed songs."

"Rima." Sasuke explained throatily. "Her Alice-in-Wonderland song."

_Rima_ was too dark, too...

What was the word?

… heartbreaking_._

"She's singing."

Without hearing her voice, Sasuke knew what the girl sang.

Glancing back at his melancholic best friend, Naruto opened his mouth to say something but an echoing discord ringing out from the piano distracted his thoughts, soon followed by soft sob. They both stiffened and raced into the music room, disregarding Sakura's wish for them to stay out of her sight.

Cradling her in his arms, Sasuke softly whispered her own lyrics back to her.

_Lost within my own dark heart  
Tell me lacrimosa-_

"-love," she finished the chorus with him.

Wiping her tears away with the back of her hand, she stood up and walked out of his hold.

"This will be the last time you see me cry. I promise you that," Sakura vowed with a watery smile.

_Bullshit._

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_._

"_How long...?"_

"_Hm?"_

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* * *

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_Can I be your sanctuary?  
Can I be your wings to fly?  
'Cause I'm a desperate angel  
With a need to die  
And will you be my sanctuary-  
Hold me close and not let go  
Shield me from the darkness  
That swallows up my world?_

"You should stop listening to such morbid music, Sakura-chan."

The girl looked up at her mentor. "Go away."

Kakashi sighed and crouched before his precious student. "They're worried about you."

"Good for them."

"I'm worried about you too, Sakura."

"You shouldn't be. I'm _fine_."

Onyx surveyed her closely. "You don't look fine to me." He reached out to pat her on the head, to make sure she was still _there_ in his grasp.

She slapped his hand away. "What you know, what you think you know, and what actually is, are three completely different things. Things aren't always what they seem."

The man froze and let his hand drop to his side. "That's especially true for you, Sakura-chan."

They stood in silence for a while. Kakashi looked at the sheet of paper on the desk, recognizing the familiar lyrics and the melody written on the stave above.

"You know what I think?" He said as he picked up the sheet. "I think you're crying out to him when you sing this song. I think that no matter how many times you push him away and deny him, you secretly want him to chase after you forever because you can't forgive yourself for not being able to let him go."

Sakura said nothing.

"You're breaking his heart, Sakura-chan."

Snatching back the sheet music, the girl picked up her pencil and resumed working.

"I know."

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* * *

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"_How many years did I push you away?" Sakura cleared her throat._

_Naruto looked puzzled._

_._

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* * *

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_._

When she woke up the next morning and sat down before her piano, her fingers moved faster than her brain could comprehend.

_A symphony composed itself from her tears._

Hidden behind the closed doors, the three most important men in her life listened in the shadows. The blond teen turned to the masked man and opened his mouth to say something but—

_It was missing its final movement._

—he closed it at the sight of his best friend and teammate slouched against the wall.

_This was her requiem._

Sasuke knew the end was near.

"Sakura."

_don't walk away._

You'll die if you play that final chord.

_._

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_.

* * *

_

_._

_._

_._

"_Don't you know? Today is the first time you've approached us."_

_Her breath stopped._

"_Today is the first time you let us in."_

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* * *

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Sasuke hated music for the longest time.

Her sweet mezzo-soprano voice haunted his conscious mind, overwhelming him and pushing him into a dreamlike state. The words of her last ballad echoed in the air, surrounding him with veiled hatred.

_Can I be your sanctuary?  
Can I be your wings to fly?  
'Cause I'm a desperate angel with a need to die.  
And will you be my sanctuary?  
Hold me close and not let go.  
Even as my glass world shatters, my sanctuary remains forever._

"Sakura," he growled.

The world fell apart.

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* * *

Author's Note:

HOLYSHITI'VENEVERWRITTENSOMUCHINMYLIFE.

This is like... a record. 8,000 something words. I don't _ever_ write this much for a single chapter. It was tempting to split it into two but... it just wouldn't have worked that way. The chapter will be of a similar length, but don't expect stuff this long in the future from me. This is _too_ much...

I hope this explains most things. Hahahaha. At least, explain things from the random stories I put in at the end of each chapter. In case you _still_ didn't get it, well, there's always the next chapter to explain things from the Shard's perspective. Which is more important anyways. XD

Ja ne!

Callista Miralni


	10. The White Knight

Cold

Callista Miralni

disclaimer: nothingnothingnothing

We've reached Chapter Ten! I never thought it would take me two years to reach this point but here we are~

Just as a final clarification: what everyone refers to as **the Shard** is the main universe this fic takes place in. **The Real World**, an AU of the original Naruto world, is something akin to background information. There are indeed two worlds.

ONWARD!

**WARNING: ANOTHER SERIES OF FLASHBACKS AND LONG TALES INTERMITTANT**

* * *

Chapter Ten: The White Knight

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"_It started with a dream..."_

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-Thirty years ago-  
-The Real World-  
-Konohagakure no Sato-

The Professor was called such for a reason.

Sarutobi Hiruzen beamed at his assembled team.

"Men, we have a mission," Konoha's top shinobi addressed them. "We are going to create an entirely new form of therapy to deal with the after effects of PTSD, particularly for victims who suffered through torture interrogations."

"We have several specialists with us. I'd like to introduce you to Uchiha Madara and Hyuuga Hiro as our main genjutsu experts. They will be the architects of our dream world."

"Beside them are Rin'negan Pein and Hakushi Konan. They are under the care of one of my former students. Both possess unique ninjutsu abilities."

"You also know Senju Hirashima, the Shodaime, and Jiraiya's student, Namikaze Minato. Minato-kun's here as a special favor to his sensei-"

"-More like I lost a bet with the old pervert," Minato grumbled.

"-and we won't be seeing much of him but I'm sure he'll be a great help when needed," Sarutobi chuckled. "Finally, I'd like to introduce to you Haruno Satome, our civilian medical specialist."

"Excuse me, Sarutobi-sempai," Konan interrupted. "But what exactly _are_ we doing?"

Sarutobi's face crinkled into a reassuring smile.

"We are offering a way for people to _dream._"

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"_Dream?" Sasuke frowned. "Why would Sarutobi want to do something like that?"_

_Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Do you dream at night, Sasuke?"_

_Naruto gave the man an incredulous stare. "Doesn't everybody?"_

_The White King laughed deep from his stomach._

"_They don't."_

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* * *

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Patient No. 444 screamed so loudly, Minato felt his very sanity being shaken.

"What..." He asked Madara uneasily. "What happened to him?"

The Uchiha smirked and his eyes spun blood-red.

"This." Madara pointed to his eyes. "He met an end with the Sharingan."

Minato's blood ran cold.

"You're supposed to be helping him, not harming him," the blond shinobi yelled. "What kind of sick bastard-"

"_You."_

Minato stopped again.

"You're the kind of sick bastard who put him in a state like this," the Uchiha said, nonchalant. "There is no reprieve from the horrors he witnessed at your hands. If I had not used the Sharingan on him, he would be clawing at his own flesh instead of having the horror confined to his mind."

Madara made a note on the clipboard Minato had not previously seen at his side. "Here," he thrust the clipboard into the stunned blond's arms. "Take this to Haruno in Lab 5. He's been waiting for these."

Mutely, Minato nodded and left Patient No. 444 to his nightmares.

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* * *

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"_For five years, their research continued. They made several breakthroughs regarding the care of catatonic patients, most of their work still used in the Real World today. However, their true aim remained out of reach._

_On the sixth day, of the sixth month, of the sixth year of the Project, the Flight occurred."_

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* * *

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At one end of the Valley, Senju Hirashima wiped the sweat off his brow. They had been battling for hours and the Shodaime knew he was reaching his limit.

Across the lake, Uchiha Madara struggled to breathe. His side bled heavily but a quick knot later, his cotton shirt stemmed the flow.

"Does the PROJECT mean so little to you? What about your wife, your sons, your _clan?_ Do _I_ mean so little to you—_old friend_?"

Madara's lips twisted into the famous Uchiha smirk. "We're not friends—we're _rivals._ And I could care less about the Professor's silly little Wonderland. What I really wanted to know was the mysteries of the human psyche."

Hirashima froze. "_You sick bastard! _Using that kind of knowledge to torture and interrogate people is disgusting and inhumane-"

"Spare me the theatrical lecture on morality," Madara snapped. "After all, wasn't it _you_ who authorized the use of psychological tactics in interrogations of enemy shinobi?"

"That's different! We're trying to protect-"

"_You still broke a man's heart._"

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* * *

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"_Soon after Madara defected, the world was plunged into the second Great Shinobi War. Project: WONDERLAND would be needed more than ever to heal traumatized soldiers._

_During the War, the Project was left to the care of Haruno Satome, and for the most part, put on hold. Konoha needed every able shinobi to fight in its ranks. After peace treaties were signed, the Project continued with a new sense of desperation._

_The people needed hope, the newly elected Sandaime, Sarutobi Hiruzen, declared. The Project was essential._

_Finally, after ten years, a breakthrough occurred."_

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Giddy, Haruno Satome motioned for Konan to forms the signs. Nearby, Hyuuga Hiro observed Patient No. 672's vitals. Adrenaline spiked before leveling out. The Patient was breathing normally, placed under a peaceful slumber.

"It... actually worked," Hiro gaped.

Konan checked the monitor again before she sighed in resignation. "Wake him up," the woman commanded.

The Hyuuga injected the antidote to the anesthesia but nothing happened. Patient No. 672 remained asleep.

"Where's a damn Uchiha when you need one?" Satome grumbled. "Somebody, get Pein to wake this guy up."

Exasperated, Konan reached out and shut down No. 672's vitals with a green hand.

"We can detach the mind from the body but we can't forge a whole person," she sighed. "Back to the books."

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* * *

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"_Two years after they started Phase II of the Project, Pein defected from Konoha, persuading Konan to leave with him._

_Hirashima had passed on a little after that. There were only Hyuuga, Haruno, Minato, and Sarutobi left. The four worked to create a new direction for the Project: instead of sending the mind to an escape, why not send the escape to the mind?_

_The lab was broken into one night and copies of the lab books were stolen. Thankfully, the week's research were still locked inside Haruno's personal safe. That week, they had successfully formulated the most crucial element to the Project."_

_Sasuke frowned. "Which was...?"_

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* * *

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Satome grumbled as he sifted through the pile of papers on his desk. The formulas and equations on the papers were still bright with wet ink, smearing as they rubbed against each other.

He finally found the battered copy of the book. Thumbing through it, he found the highlighted passaged and started to read. Minutes later, a soft tug on his shirttail pulled him away from his research.

"'Tou-chan," the two-year-old girl lisped. "I can't sleep."

Lifting his daughter, his only precious child, into his lap, Satome hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

"Why not, Hime-sama?"

"They're scared," the girl whispered fearfully. "Why are they scared? I cry every time they yell."

It took Satome a moment before he understood. His daughter was frightened of the shinobi who lived next door, veteran soldiers suffering from PTSD. His wife hated them too—she hated anything to do with ninjas. Misaki's father was a shinobi who chose his work than the child he produced on a stress-relieving night.

If Misaki knew the true nature of his research, she'd leave him.

"Do you want to hear a story?" He asked instead, reaching for the book. "Will a story help you sleep?"

She nodded vigorously. "Hai!"

Opening the book, Satome got comfortable and read.

"_The King and Queen of Hearts..."_

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* * *

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"_They formulated the jutsu to send the escape," Kakashi supplied._

_Naruto's mouth hung open. "And they got that from reading bedtime stories to a little girl?"_

_Jiraiya chuckled. "You make it sound so easy! It is true that Haruno Satome's daughter was the initial spark of inspiration but there was more to it than that. The solution was so simple; the team couldn't believe they hadn't thought of it before."_

"_But it was damn near impossible. The main resource had vanished," Tsunade folded her hands. "To recruit another meant to swear another person to secrecy and the Project was in a delicate state. Sarutobi caught wind of experimentations going on in Ame... experiments that sounded too close to the Project with a sinister twist."_

_Sasuke growled under his breath. "Get to the point, White Queen."_

_Leveling a glare in his direction, Tsunade huffed. "The answer was the Mangekyou Sharingan and the Tsukuyomi."_

_Naruto glanced at his best friend. "Sharingan? As in Uchiha freaky eye color change Sharingan?"_

"_Of course," Sasuke breathed. "Of course it would be."_

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* * *

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The first problem was finding an Uchiha.

Sarutobi waited in his office. To the rest of the world, he seemed calm, deeply engrossed in the daily stacks of paper work. His thoughts were on a different matter entirely.

If Satome's idea would work, the Project could be finished before the next war broke out. The Kages were already sending reconnaissance teams into other lands and assassinations were taking place at an alarming rate.

But, to think the key lies with the Uchiha clan... that was another issue in itself.

"Hokage-sama, you wanted to see me?" The gruff voice of Uchiha Makihiro disturbed his thoughts.

"Makihiro-kun, take a seat," the Hokage rose to greet him. "There are some matters of grave importance I must speak with you about."

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"_Makihiro refused. He claimed that the Mangekyou was the thing of fantasy and nonsense, an urban legend formulated through fear rather than reason. In a way, he had been right; no Uchiha had ever committed the atrocities need to awaken the Mangekyou. They were ruthless, yes, but not inhuman._

_Another two years had passed without much success. Without the Mangekyou, they had to find another way to induce a similar state. No genjutsu held long enough to put the therapy ritual into place. The Council threatened to pull funding more than once. It was hopeless._

_It was then that the threats started."_

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Haruno Misaki opened up the mailbox and shook when she saw the black envelope inside. The third one this week.

Her husband worked as a researcher for the village, yes. Whoever sent these notes wanted his research material. At first, Misaki dismissed them as the underhanded work of some jealous colleague. It wasn't until the sender started revealing facts about her life, details about her father and his death, that she started to think otherwise.

The letters were simple. Recently, they started including drawings of the graphic deeds they would do to her and her family if she did not comply.

_Your daughter seems to have made friends with the Uchiha child. They like to run around with Senju Shizune. Misaki-san, I heard she wants to be a shinobi like them. You must be so proud of her courage._

Misaki was anything but proud. She was terrified.

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"_The Harunos weren't the only ones receiving notes. Sarutobi, Hyuuga, and Minato also received similar threats. Sometimes, they would get progress reports, scientific notes in Pein's handwriting. Their fears were confirmed—Pein had brought the project to bloody Amegakure with far more sinister purposes."_

"_What did Ame hope to accomplish?" _

"_Instead of mental repair, they wanted to tear the mind down completely. Think about it for a second, Naruto; one twist of a word, one hand sign, and the entire jutsu changes. Many capable shinobi would be reduced to withering vegetables with this one jutsu."_

_Sasuke sneered. "They continued the Project."_

_Sighing, Tsunaded nodded. "They saw it as the only way to counteract Ame's new developments. Unfortunately..."_

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"You've been doing what?" Misaki shouted.

Running his hands through his hair in agitation, Satome tried to calm down his wife. "Misaki, it's not like that-"

"Then what the hell is it like? Explain it to me! There are hundreds of people who can be enslaved with a single jutsu and you're telling me it's possible because of _your_ brilliance! If I had only known what you were working on... _who_ you were working for, I would have divorced you a long time ago."

Satome froze. What about their children? A separated home environment is no place for a child. It leaves scars that will never heal. His daughter could never trust her heart to anyone, not after witnessing her parents' love and marriage fall apart before her eyes. His son... he would grow up without a father.

Misaki regarded him coldly. "You are leaving in the morning. You are to never darken our doorstep, do you understand? You are not allowed to speak or contact my children. The divorce papers will arrive tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure _Hokage-sama_ will be more than accommodating," she said with a sneer.

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* * *

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"_Haruno had a son?"_

"_Yes. He grew up fatherless and hated shinobi for taking away his father. To Takashi, shinobi were baseless and immoral leeches who knew nothing of familial values and love. Misaki never told him the truth about their divorce until she was on her deathbed during the Second Shinobi War," Tsunade shook her head. "From there, we get an interesting story about a little girl named Haruno Sakura who defied her parents at every turn and ended up being disowned while comatose."_

"_Wait," Naruto's blue eyes went wide. "Haruno Sakura? As in our Haruno Sakura-chan?"_

"_The very same," Tsunada replied, grim. "To make a long tragedy short, Haruno Sakura befriended two boys of shinobi heritage, much to her parents' displeasure. On a Golden Week vacation, they were ambushed and she became the first victim of what they now call the Wonderland no Arisu no Jutsu."_

_Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "You said first victim. She wasn't the first subjected to the jutsu."_

"_Correct!" Kakashi swelled with pride at his protege's deductive reasoning._

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Rin'negan Pein stood before the mirror naked from the waist up. From Haruno's stolen research notes, he learned the key to the now-named Arisu Jutsu lay with the Sharingan.

Wouldn't his Rin'negan eyes, a far more powerful doujutsu, have the same effect?

Activating the doujutsu, Pein focused on the mirror and began to concentrate. Creating the Second Path had been easy. Deva gave him a curt nod before casting the hand signs.

_Tiger._

_Rabbit._

The door opened, admitting Konan with a sheaf of papers in hand. "Pein, I really think you should reconsider-"

_Snake._

_Ram._

"Kagami: WONDERLAND no arisu."

The jutsu rebounded off the mirror enveloping all but Deva standing within the protective circle. Pein and Konan fell to the floor comatose.

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"_Four years before Haruno Sakura became cursed, Pein and Konan escaped after a mere eight months. While inside the dream world, Pein realized the possibilities of the jutsu. Entire villages could be conquered without shedding blood and yet they would still be able to feel. It fit with his ideology; Pein sought to bring peace to the world by teaching the people the pain of war in hopes they would always strive for peace._

_On the other hand, Konan noted some strange anomalies in the dreamland, coincidences that disturbed her greatly. The Ame research team had not built the world; it was already encoded into the justu when they had robbed Haruno Satome's office. However, their original goal of mental terror wasn't accomplished either. The Ame team had only succeeded in formulating an escape out of the mental prison based on the duo's experience inside, a useless setback in their eyes. Amegakure cut funding for the Project after that and it was abandoned by everyone except for Pein and Konan."_

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Konan woke up in another cold sweat. Reaching for her journal, she picked up a pen and scribbled the latest dream with shaky fingers.

_The chessboard was dyed red with blood. The black faceless chessman bowed to me, their Queen, while the white pieces kept calling for their missing royalty._

_A snake twined itself around the black King. It hissed out one command and a shape-shifting army rose from the moorland led by five terrible monsters. At the sight of the army, the white chessmen began to shift uneasily, their cries for their missing King and Queen escalating. _

_The wind blew and a rabbit sped by, followed by the strangest company. A hatter, a dormouse, a turtle, a gryphon, a hare, an eaglet, a duchess, a cat, and many other animals I can't even hope to name. "Alyss!" The trees whispered to the flowers as they passed. "Alyss arrives soon!"_

_Who is Alyss? I have the feeling she will be the first victim in this terrible war._

A week later, a man Konan vaguely remembered from her childhood days with Jiraiya in Konohagakure appeared before them in Ame. Orochimaru whispered promises of military strength for Pein's grand scheme. An entire shinobi village at his disposal—all for the capture of one Uchiha Itachi.

A month later, Pein controlled the entire village.

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"_Itachi?"_

_Tsunade took another sip of alcohol. "He is a genius. The true Uchiha prodigy. Nothing escapes his eyes."_

"_Around this time," Jiraiya said. "Whispers of rebellion among the Uchiha clan began. Itachi had just graduated from his Chuunin exam and already promised an ANBU position within the year. If they started an uprising, Itachi was their deadliest ace."_

_Naruto threw his hands up. "Chuunin exam? ANBU? What the hell are those? Aren't the ANBU the elite members of Wonderland tied to LGW?"_

"_In the real world, the ANBU are also the elite—they are the black ops of the village. A Chuunin exam is a promotion exercise. Can I continue?"_

_Naruto did a complicated rude gesture with his hands that Jiraiya ignored._

"_The messy politics aside, Pein continued to plan."_

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Pein smiled at her when she entered the lab.

"The plans are almost complete," he told her elated. "It's flawless."

Konan swallowed the lump in her throat before taking a seat. Immediately, Pein launched into an explanation.

First, he would collect the nine Tailed Beasts as a collateral for any nation who dared to rise against him. To do so, he would invite a select number of shinobi—dangerous nukenin—to work for him. This group—Akatsuki—would be liasoned by Konan herself, the Angel of Death.

While collecting the Beasts, Oto and Ame would invade the great nations, taking over the villages. Their first target would be Konoha, where they would hold the village under siege and slowly place all its residents under the Arisu no Jutsu. Then they would move on and the cycle would repeat.

It was a convoluted plan that held no rhyme or reason. Konan found herself smiling and nodding, but her stomach acid threatened to spill from her throat if she opened her mouth.

That night, she dreamed about falling from the sky and drowning in a salty pool of endless tears.

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"_Konan insisted on running more tests, claiming that they only knew what happened inside the jutsu to be successful but unaware of if the Wonderland affected reality. How were they to know if the lessons learned reflected on the outside? Eager, Pein cast the jutsu on himself a second time and went into a month long coma._

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Konan checked his pupils with the penlight. Normal function.

"What is your name?" She asked.

"Nagato."

The coffee cup shattered on the floor. Konan hadn't heard that name in _years_, not since _he_ died...

"What do you do in your free time?"

"Meditate. And draw occasionally."

Check.

The evaluation continued with Konan asking questions about his life and Pein answering correctly. Finally, Konan set a paper and pencil before him.

"Draw for me Jiraiya-sensei peeping in the hot springs."

Pein had drawn the picture a million times before. If this was truly Pein, he wouldn't forget the dumb, swirly-eyed caricature of their childhood mentor.

Obediently, Pein began to draw the familiar scene, carefully sketching with the pencil. Konan watched him, a red flag waving when she realized her friend spent two hours on the sketch when it usually took him twenty minutes.

She replaced it with a blank sheet.

"Draw me something to hang up on my wall."

Again, Pein picked up the pencil and started to sketch. No matter how many times he started to draw, he stopped halfway through and asked for a clean sheet. Konan obliged him each time, making a note in her notebook with growing alarm.

_It's as if all creative thought was robbed from him. Past ideas came easier, albeit recollection time was four times slower. The jutsu stole the imagination—and with it—all feeling and emotion. Pein is like a souless puppet, dancing to the loop designed for him by the gradient exposure therapy._

Shaking, Konan performed the counter-jutsu they discovered from their earlier days with the Ame research team.

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"_She arranged for a group of shinobi to sneak into Konoha and make copies of all the Project: WONDERLAND research. Once in her hands, she compiled it all into a computer locked inside the safety of her private quarters._

_Around the same time, the Uchiha massacre occurred. Uchiha Itachi joined Pein's Akatsuki and refused Orochimaru."_

"_Refused him what?"_

"_We're not sure," Tsunade replied. "We have many theories and no answers. After Itachi's refusal, Orochimaru sought a new target: the last Uchiha, Itachi's little brother Sasuke. It was during a kidnapping attempt by Ame-nin that Haruno Sakura was first cursed, so to speak, with the Arisu no Jutsu and that is where our story ends."_

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-The Shard-  
-Present time-

The study was quiet.

"Baa-chan..." Naruto let out a shaky breath. "That made no fucking sense at all. We've always known that we are a shard of the universe, the imagination. If Pein and Konan could find a way out of this jutsu while they were inside Wonderland, why haven't we left yet? Why are we still locked in a war thousands of years old while time in the real world is still moving slow?"

"You still haven't answered the most important question: _where is Sakura?_" Sasuke added.

Tsunade downed the sake again. "I will explain this in a simple terms as possible so Uzumaki can understand it with his thick brain," she snapped. "As it stands, the Shard is a universe heavily influenced by a children's bedtime story because _it's safe_. In such a safe environment, any dangers a person experiences become like ants, easy to squash. As a patient overcomes his fear of ants, the nightmares take on a new, more dangerous form. This continues until he is able to face the original fear; and after doing so, the patient is released from the jutsu, completely intact. Time moves slow because time flows differently in this world than it does in the real world."

"This is the complication," she made a face. "The jutsu was designed so that the patient is locked in and any therapists or facilitators can freely move in and out. It is a multi-step complex jutsu that requires more than one casting for it to completely work. First, the patient is introduced to the world and "fills it" with his nightmares and safe zones. Then, the head facilitator, "Alyss," enters to guide the patient and monitor progress. If two patients are linked together, say they were on the same mission and have the same nightmares, and they consent to shared treatment, then the second patient is added in after Alyss enters."

"This world was first built when Haruno Sakura entered it at the age of seven. However, during her Chuunin exam, she was introduced into the Shard _again_ as a facilitator. While she was in a coma, Konohagakure no Sato was put under siege by Otogakure. The first teams captured and tortured by Oto-nin comprised of _our_ ANBU members. We all have shared trauma from that experience and the Arisu no Jutsu was cast on us at the same time. We are marked as unique."

"That much we are sure of," Kakashi sighed. "After that, we're not sure. Something happened during the siege—maybe a explosion or something—that amplified the effects of the jutsu. Konoha villagers weren't the only ones without imagination; every one in the enemy camps became swept up in it too. This entire Shard is a conglomerate of these people's worst nightmares and greatest hopes."

"We can only surmise Sakura is in the Real World if she is not in the Shard. As the facilitator, she is able to freely move back and forth between the two. However, as the first patient, she cannot leave the Shard until she triumphs over her nightmares."

A nightmare.

That is what keeps them tied to this world.

"And the shards?"

Tsunade stiffened at the mention of the shadowy glass pieces being carefully assembled in the basement.

"It's a cheat," Jiraiya answered easily. "Whether it forms a backdoor or the image of Sakura-hime's greatest fear, we don't know, but it's important."

Naruto frowned. "O-kay then... explain the whole reincarnation bit."

The adults laughed, long and hard. "Naruto, haven't you ever wanted to be someone else? As children, it's easy for us to play pretend, to assume another personality like wearing a coat. We cannot die—each time we do so in this realm, we start from the beginning. If you could choose to be someone else when you were born again, then why not do so?"

"You didn't have to laugh," he grumbled. "I thought it was a valid question."

Sasuke slammed his hands on the table. "I'm tired of hearing bedtime stories and ancient anecdotes," the Uchiha snarled. "All I want to know is where my princess is and how to get her back."

Silence reigned throughout the room.

"Didn't I already tell you?" Kakashi answered with a faint smirk. "How did the Mad Hatter return to Wonderland?"

Something triggered Sasuke's memory.

_There was a door floating in the middle of the Pool_.

"The Pool of Tears."

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Author's Note:

And this is where it ends. Chapter-wise, I mean.

I spent thirteen months writing this, struggling with the concepts. It was easy at first, seeing as how I immediately started on this chapter after finishing the previous one but as time went on, I started seeing several flaws. How did the Project fit into the Shard? How do I explain the Tridiuum, Sakura's unreal powers, the shards? Where does time and reincarnation fit it? How do the past and present fit together?

As you can see, I've dug quite a hole for myself. I spent seven of those long months re-reading and double checking my work, making sure every could conceptually _work_.

Did I accomplish my goal? I have no idea. Your feedback will be invaluable.

Dear reviewers and readers, I want to let you all know that I love your feedback. I used to make a point of replying to each and every single one of your reviews and answer your questions, but as you can see from the past year, doing so has been nearly impossible.

That doesn't mean I won't stop trying.

If I reply, smile; I've probably answered your questions or promised to do so in the future. If I don't reply, don't be insulted; there is a mound of Organic Chemistry that has buried me. D:

But thank you, always, for these past four years. It means so much to me that you have followed me to this point.

Ja ne!

Callista Miralni


	11. Pig and Pepper

Cold

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer: Always.

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Pig and Pepper

HE—

—ran through the forest at breakneck speed, pushing himself beyond his limits. Behind him, his best friend and partner followed at an equally hurried pace.

Skidding to a stop on the high cliff overlooking the lake, Sasuke studied the water below with Sharingan eyes.

"You don't think this will actually work, right?" Naruto mentioned, his expression clouded with doubt. "People would go missing all the time if this really was a door."

Sasuke faced him. "Scared, dobe?"

"I just think we're being too hasty."

This was new. Sasuke was always the calculating one and Naruto the one who rushed headfirst into things. With Sakura's absence, the roles were reversed.

"We don't know what's down there," Naruto argued. "We have no idea if this will actually work. What if all we end up doing is restarting our lives? Anything we learned in the last week—hell, the last seventeen _years—_will be gone just like that."

He had a point and Sasuke hated it.

"Fine."

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"Hey, has anyone seen Cheshire Cat-sama?"

Now that she thought about it, Uchiha Itachi had been missing for awhile.

"I haven't," Ino responded, pushing her rolling chair away from her desk. "Who's looking for him?"

The card soldier scratched his head. "It's Eaglet-taichou, Duchess-sama. She needs his help repairing one of the chessmen."

Ino's frown deepened. That was a serious matter. Itachi knew he was the only one capable of tuning those blasted mechs to their full potential. Sasuke hadn't learned enough from their mother to be of use beyond basic fitting and operation.

Besides, Sasuke spent all his time brooding in the basement nowadays.

"When I see him, I'll send him your way," Ino reassured the card soldier.

Even hours after he left and Ino returned to her desk, she couldn't shake the feeling that Itachi was never coming back.

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When he was younger, Rock Lee dreamed of becoming one of Alyss's Shields.

He remembered when Uchiha Sasuke made his pledge. He was seven years old—almost eight—and the tragic Massacre was only two weeks prior.

The caterpillars deemed him worthy.

An omen from the thread.

The Princess was only six at the time when she blessed the era's Mad Hatter. Lee could never forget the electric spark charged through the room when they touched hands. People all around twittered in excitement. Never before has there been such a connection between the Princess and her Shield. They will be powerful together...

… almost unstoppable.

Envious of the power and strength he exuded, Lee vowed to be chosen as Alyss's other shield.

The years passed and the position remained empty. Neji told him to give it up.

"It's not your fate to Shield Alyss."

If not that, then what was his calling? He was the Dodo—a prized member of the ANBU. If he was not born to protect Alyss, then what was he meant to do?

His dream shattered when Kakashi brought in the White Rabbit.

Unlike the induction of the Hatter, the Rabbit's was discrete and poorly attended. There was only the Princess, Kakashi, and Sasuke at the pledging. Naruto himself didn't even realize he swore an oath.

The week after, all of Wonderland gathered for a public audience in the throne room. Alyss and her Shields were there and the Rabbit was presented before the masses. Lee remembered only one thing—the electric current in the air when Alyss smiled at them.

While the Rabbit trained, the rest of them gathered intelligence and smoky, haunting shards. Wonderland learned more about their elusive enemy in those four years than previous generations ever did. There was a King and his Queen. He had a slithering Commander with an elite team of monsters. A Mad Researcher. At the same time, pieces upon pieces of haunted glass fell into their hands.

Lee became a star on these missions. For the first time, Alyss awarded him with a warm smile.

He became one of her top field intelligence officers, second to Yukuefumei Sai.

Lee had a purpose.

After Sasuke broke his arm during a foolish spar, Lee was regulated to desk work for a month. He was there working with Hinata and Shikamaru as they watched Alyss disappear. Naruto stood frozen, trapped in a dream. Sasuke's dark gaze smoldered with rage.

He could never forget those five minutes.

When Neji and Sai brought them back, Lee busied himself with securing the three prisoners. The boy with wild red hair writhed in his brother's arms and his sister stood in shock nearby.

"Will he be alright?" The girl suddenly asked. "Will he live?"

Lee paused. Hinata told him of the connection between them. She failed to mention the boy's condition.

"If he is anything like the White Rabbit, yes."

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-The Real World-

Tucked under the foreign, yet entirely familiar, blankets, Sakura dreamed.

She could hear his voice, poisonous whispers echoing in the darkness.

"Alyss."

Fear was something to be controlled. Her nails bit into the soft flesh of her hands, enough to stop her trembling but stopping short of drawing blood.

"King of Hearts."

He shed his shadow cloak. "Walk with me, Princess. We have much to discuss."

Sakura eyed Pein warily. "How do I know you will not chop off my head?"

A chill ran down her spine at the sound of his laugh.

"In this stasis, the only truth is the power of the Tridiuum. Even if I wished, I cannot harm you."

She relaxed. The Tridiuum was absolute. It was the only law that governed the Shard.

As they walked side-by-side, Sakura took comfort in knowing _she_ was the only one who could cause harm in this dream land.

The hours spent in meditation as a child came back to her. The eerie truths revealed by her subconscious repeated as a mantra in her ears.

**One_.**

_Imagination breaks the laws of the universe._

**Two_.**

_Only Alyss can open the paths._

**Three_.**

_Dawn chases away the nightmare._

Alyss remembered the Tridiuum as the absolute truth of her life.

Build a construct, open the door, conquer the nightmare.

"You are dangerous," Pein finally spoke again. "I miscalculated and now I'm paying the price."

"You're the enemy," Sakura countered. "You've done nothing but _ruin_ my life from the beginning. You murdered my parents and Sasuke's entire family, experimented on Naruto, and broke Kakashi's spirit. You have destroyed my ANBU and tried to tear us apart but we are stronger than that. _We_ have always risen up from the ashes."

He looked at her curiously. "Do you honestly know what it means to suffer?"

"I have suffered my entire life. Don't be ridiculous."

At her reply, Pein sighed and shook his head in disappointment.

"You don't, Sakura-hime. Until you learn the _true_ meaning of pain, I cannot allow you to leave this Wonderland."

The world starting pulling in on itself, a sure sign that Sakura was waking up.

"You're mad," she uttered. "Madmadmadmad. You've lost hope and can't find it anymore. You're so lonely, you don't know any other way to reach out to others except to make them share your pain. Isn't that what they say—misery loves company. I will not follow you on this journey, King of Hearts."

"Oh but Alyss," she heard him say as sleep slipped away. "I can't control this world. _You_ are the one who binds us to suffering. I'm only here to make sure you _remember it._"

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Sakura struggled to zip up the back of her dress before a pair of pale hands pushed her fingers out of the way and zipped it further. Turning to thank her assistant, Sakura's eyes widened when she saw Sai staring at her pensively.

In the Shard, Sai was her best reconnaissance operative. As a child, before the days when Sasuke and Naruto followed in her shadow, Sai was her only playmate—but only when she saw him.

She didn't know his name at the time. The boy declared as the March Hare would not remember the stolen hours of childhood.

"You're awake," Sai simply said.

Sakura knew he was only referring to the fact that she was out of bed.

"Thank you."

The artist shrugged. "They call me Sai."

"I know. You're the one who..."

She couldn't get the words _replaced me_ out of her throat. She held no attachment to this world—everything here was _strange_ and _foreign_.

If that was so, then why did her heart pull at the thought of being replaced?

"Kakashi-san made breakfast. I suggest you eat before Naruto devours everything since Kakashi-san is a good cook and rarely ever makes meals."

He turned to leave but at the door, Sai hesitated. "Sakura-san?"

The girl looked at him. "Yes?"

"Do you still love him?"

There was only one person Sai could have been referring to but Sakura was unsure how he arrived at such a ridiculous conclusion.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He stepped into the hallway.

"I see."

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-The Shard-

Sasuke left his room, taking care to smooth his clothes and look presentable.

Today, despite Sakura's absence, they would be holding court.

Tsunade was already there, seated at the small desk before the throne. Naruto flanked her left and Sasuke assumed her right. Between them, Kakashi and Jiraiya murmured words of advice to the Royal Regent—Kakashi on the issues Sakura deemed most important and Jiraiya on playing the game of politics.

"Enough." Tsunade held up a hand. "I appreciate the help but it is unnecessary. Who do you think governed when Alyss was still an infant? Who tutored her in the fine art of politics and diplomacy?"

Sasuke looked to the ground, his grip on Azrael tightening. If Naruto noticed, he wisely chose not to comment on it.

It was a little concealed fact that Sasuke had been with Sakura through the White Queen's lessons. Naruto wondered how Sasuke would handle the casual mentions of their Princess.

It was impossible to escape her. Naruto expected to run into her around every corner, play tag with her down the hallways of the ANBU quarters, find her slaving away over her piano. Five years worth of memories plagued Naruto, raised his expectations of finding a ghost no longer present.

He could only imagine how Sasuke felt.

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The throne room emptied after the public audience. The tension in the air crackled to life as shrewd Hyuugas presented argument after argument.

The Lord of Clubs, though present, said nothing.

Alone, Sasuke traced the Wonderland crest with his fingers. The Heart, the Diamond, the Club, the Spade. His fingers lingered over the Spade, closing his eyes from the unbidden memories.

Sasuke was five years old and visiting Heart Palace with the House of Spades. His mother, Uchiha Mikoto, sat him down for a history lesson after he asked about the family crest.

"Do you know how to play cards, Sasuke-kun?"

"You mean like hanafuda?"

Mikoto laughed. "That's a kind of cards, Sasuke-kun, but I mean the French cards."

His mother turned to the bedside table and pulled out two things: The Looking Glass Wars and a pack of French playing cards. Mikoto opened the back and slid out the plastic cards, taking time to sort them by suit and in ascending order.

"There's four suits in a decks," she said. "Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades. In each suit, there are nine numbers, two to ten, and four face cards: Jack, Queen, King, and Ace. With me so far?"

Sasuke nodded eagerly. "Hai! The number cards are like the card soldier rankings!"

Mikoto pinched his cheeks fondly. "Exactly! You're so smart. Anyways, three face cards, the King, Queen, and Jack are the military titles of the House in charge of that particular deck. Sasuke-kun, do you know what a spade is?"

"A gardening tool?"

Mikoto laughed and hugged her precious child. "You're so smart, Sasuke-kun! True, a spade a gardening tool, but look at it closely—doesn't it resemble a spear?"

It wasn't a coincidence the Uchiha clan was titled the House of Spades. They were in charge of Wonderland's security, the main military branch under Alyss's command. The other suits had their own much smaller decks but in terms of command, the Spades—the Uchiha—were at the very top.

"Why is the Uchiha Spade half red, half white?"

Mikoto paused. "To show our loyalty to Wonderland and Alyss. Red and white are the royal colors, Sasuke-kun, and we wear those colors with pride and honor."

The embossed Ace of Spades caught the child's eye and he picked it up.

"What about the Ace, Kaa-san?" He presented the card to her.

Mikoto gently took the card from him. "The Ace is special. It means you are the best soldier under the Queen's command and tasked with a very important job."

"Like what?"

After hearing the Ace from each suit was tasked with guarding Alyss when the Mad Hatter and White Rabbit had yet to be found, Sasuke was determined to become the next Ace of Spades. Itachi, then nine years old, had already been sworn as the Cheshire Cat and deemed ineligible for the position.

Mikoto was confident her son would be the next Ace. When she wasn't busy designing and repairing the Chessmen, she was in the training rooms with Sasuke while his father, the King and Lord of Spades was on duty patrolling Konoha with his deck. Although she played the part of the genteel Lady of Spades well, Uchiha Mikoto made history as the only Lady of Spades to command her House's deck as its Queen.

He needed to stop thinking about his mother. Uchiha Mikoto reminded Sasuke of sunnier days, when he could afford to entertain silly notions like loving Alyss.

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Naruto lay on the grass beside the Pool of Tears with an open picnic basket between him and Hinata.

"Ne, Hinata-chan..."

The Hyuuga looked up from her book. "What is it, Naruto-kun?"

He wasn't supposed to speak of the truth, of Project: WONDERLAND and the Pool of Tears, but Hinata-chan was always kind enough to entertain his previous delusional ramblings.

"What if the Pool of Tears was a portal?"

The Dormouse set her novel down and gazed across the glass surface of the lake. "If it was, it's not that hard to believe. _The Looking Glass Wars_ says it's a portal, so it must be the truth, right?"

"I never thought of it that way."

Fiddling with her fingers, Hinata finally gathered the courage to ask him the question that had been on her mind for a while.

"Naruto-kun, do you believe in _The Looking Glass Wars_ at all?"

Her best friend looked at her sharply, partially surprised. Like he said to Sasuke before, _LGW_ was like the Bible in Wonderland—to not take its words as truth was akin to blasphemy.

But Naruto was never one to blindly believe in words. Actions meant more than empty promises and the actions of their princess, her fiery determination to see their mission through, was what Naruto believed in.

"I believe in Sakura." Naruto chose his words carefully, finally making use of the lessons Iruka beat into him so many years ago. "And if she believes, so will I."

Hinata blinked at him before collapsing into giggles.

"I envy you," she admitted, "to have such faith in one person. You should tell Sakura-hime sometime. I'm sure your trust will bring her strength."

Naruto smiled softly before curling up beside her. "You know, Hinata-chan, you give me strength all the time."

The girl felt her heart rate slow. "Really? Why would you say that?"

"You believe I'm _invincible._"

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Sasuke passed by Itachi on his way to the training rooms.

"Where have you been?" He softly demanded. "Tenten has been looking for you."

His brother was distracted. "Has she? I've been out."

Sasuke frowned. "Do you even know what's going on?"

"Alyss just assigned me a new mission. We'll have to talk later, ototou."

Itachi was slipping away from him so fast.

Who is this stranger in his brother's skin?

"Alyss is gone!" Sasuke yelled.

The world stilled, bleeding into monochrome gray. Ugly truths colored the air so bright, no lie could cover them up.

Itachi paused at the stairs. "She's not gone, Sasuke, she's _returned_. Regardless of where she is, Alyss's orders are absolute. You, of all the ANBU, would know this the best."

The memories of the Shard missions Sakura forced him to undertake surfaced in his memories. Sasuke hated those missions—it meant time away from his duty to protect her and time away from the reconnaissance reports searching for the King of Hearts.

"Don't patronize me, Itachi."

The Cheshire Cat leveled a pointed glance at the Mad Hatter.

"Then serve your princess."

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-The Real World-

The instrument called to her.

Sakura could not stop herself from visiting the music room. Every morning after breakfast, she found herself inside what used to be a drawing room in the Uchiha home. The piano was a beautiful piece of glossy ebony and ivory stationed close to the door away from the harsh rays of the sun.

She could tell the room was designed especially for her. A cream embossed wallpaper covered the walls and the ceiling-to-floor drapes were a heavy burgundy pulled back with gold ties. Music books ranging from composer biographies, to theory, to sheet music portfolios and compilations filled the shelves. A violin case sat innocently on a chair and a sturdy mahogany table was littered with papers.

This Sakura played the violin. The revelation was odd to her and it struck her just how differente this Sakura was from herself. Sakura never learned the instrument but Itachi-nii mesmerized her with concertos as a child. Moving towards the black case, Sakura opened it and held the violin in a poor imitation of Itachi's stance.

"I thought I would find you here."

Quickly, she hid the violin behind her back.

"Sasuke."

He flinched at the lack of honorifc but picked up one of the music sheets lying on the table. For the longest time, Sasuke didn't say anything; he studied the score in his hand as if he was mentally playing it.

"That was my brother's violin."

Sakura almost dropped the instrument at the admission. If Sasuke noticed her shock, he did well pretending like his words had not affected her.

"An Uchiha must be good at every thing," Sasuke dully recited. "Whether it be the shinobi arts or domestic affairs. My brother was an accomplished musician who often entertained the daimiyo of Hi no Kuni during contract renewals."

"Oh."

The Sasuke in the Shard never spoke so melancholically of Itachi. For her Sasuke, Itachi was an obstacle to overcome, a wall to surmount.

Her Sasuke never knew it was his beloved older brother who helped massacre the House of Spades in a single night.

But this Sasuke, the _real_ Sasuke, knew. This Sasuke knew of every horrible crime Itachi committed. He dreamed that bloody nightmare time after time and could not find peace.

"Do you know why my brother betrayed Konoha ten years ago?"

The sudden question caught her off guard and Sakura wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

Sasuke eased the violin out of her hands and placed it back in its case gently. Guiding her to the piano, he sat her down on the bench before taking a seat beside her.

"I don't know either," he said when she didn't offer a response. "But tomorrow, I will find out."

Her vocal chords, which clamped up at his sudden appearance, roughly asked, "Tomorrow?"

Dull onyx, dead without imagination, darkened.

"Tomorrow, we leave on an S-class mission to hunt nuke-nin, Uchiha Itachi, known member of criminal organization Akatsuki, and _bring him down_."

_Break my shattered heart  
There's nothing left for you to take  
Break my scattered heart  
I'm waiting for the day_

Panic seized her.

_NO _

_DON'T GO_

_DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE_

_DON'T KILL MY KITTY!_

She clapped her hands over her mouth and tears pooled in her eyes.

"Sakura...?"

_you are the uchiha princess_

_The Uchiha Princess_

_His only princess_

"Don't kill Itachi."

* * *

Author's Note:

It's my NYR to post a chapter of _Cold_ at least every month and finish it by the end of the year. Visit my LJ for teasers and writing updates!

Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers! I haven't been able to reply to any of you but I treasure each of your comments! I will do my best to be better about replying this year, but... the real world sucks sometimes.

This chapter is kind of all over the place but it sets up the next major arc in the story so... yeah. Lots of references to past chapters too. Oh well.

Ja ne!  
Callista Miralni


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